INPATIENT FACILITIES
deemed unachievable. Bootham Park Hospital will remain and stand proud for many years to come, but it was clear that if the Trust was to provide effective 21st-century mental health to service-users, a new home was required.
Focused intervention and support The days of the ‘Asylum’ have thankfully long gone, and the historic perception of maltreatment and confinement has significantly changed – to a positive image of focused intervention and support. It is fair to say that in times gone by, the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ ethos supported an inpatient environment that was described (and experienced) by many as far from caring.
Our brief
We have come a long way. Effective and efficient mental healthcare and treatment of mental ill health – including in inpatient settings – are now much more a part of the wider mental health system; one which includes social care, university research, and the voluntary sector. Recently, we have seen a rise in the number of people being able to receive care at home, and a hospital admission is becoming an exception rather than the norm. The brief provided to P+HS Architects when considering the provision of inpatient care in the Vale of York was to design a facility which fitted with the NHS Trust’s ongoing development of services, supporting people in their home whenever possible. The aim was to reduce the amount of time that people spent in hospital, while simultaneously ensuring that the right level of care was available at the time it was needed most.
For those that need a hospital stay, both the quality of the environment, and the functionality of the accommodation, are fundamental to the pathway of care. The model of care means that those who need to spend time within the hospital are those with the most complex needs, often in a time of crisis. They are at their most vulnerable, and deserve to be cared for in a safe and therapeutic environment. The aspiration of the client, and the ethos of P+HS Architects, were a perfect match. The challenge was set, passions were raised, and the opportunity to design a new facility which would enhance people’s lives was underway.
Accommodation for adults and older people
Basic fundamentals were provided. The hospital needed to accommodate four 18-bed wards – two adult, single-sex wards, and two wards for older people. The older people’s unit will have one ward for people with mental health problems such as psychosis, severe depression, or anxiety (functional illness), and one ward for people with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s (organic illnesses). All wards will benefit from supporting day spaces and therapy rooms.
28 A landscape plan of the scheme.
Staying true to the model of care, the hospital is a supporting facility to assist with ongoing community services, and not a long-term place of stay. This supporting accommodation includes a 136 assessment suite, ECT treatment, and space for the home treatment and care home liaison teams. The aim at the new hospital is to view admission as ‘an exception rather than the norm’, and to ensure a safe and early discharge for service-users, with ongoing support and maintaining of close links between the crisis and home teams and the ward teams. The new hospital in 2020 is understandably very different to Bootham Park Hospital in 1774.
Involving local people
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Foundation Trust took over the service provision in York at a very difficult time, with the closure of Bootham Park Hospital coming one week ahead of it taking on the contract. The impact of the Bootham closure on service-users, families, carers, and staff, was significant. Passions ran high,
and local people were very concerned not only about the service closure, but also over what was to happen with the Grade I and II listed property. Involving local people in the design process was fundamental to the success of not only the new hospital, but also the future relationship with service provision. Public consultation, community engagement events, and local workshops were held before any proposed designs were prepared. Feedback was requested on not only where the new hospital could be located, but also its size, the number of beds, and what people would like to see in the building design.
Brownfield site
Following the detailed early consultation, a brownfield site on the periphery of York city centre was chosen. ‘Haxby Road’ became the name the scheme was to be referred to for the start of the design stage process. When considering the site options, the appraisal considered the availability of land, planning constraints, accessibility/public transport, and future
A photograph of a bedroom, with a ‘mood board’. JANUARY 2020 | THE NETWORK
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