NEWS
Collaborative innovation makes Austen House a success
Kingsway Group has ‘partnered’ with Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust on the design of the internal doorsets for the new Austen House low secure forensic mental health facility in Hampshire, ‘to provide a solution designed with recovery and the service-user in mind’.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust officially opened Austen House, at Tatchbury Mount on the edge of the New Forest, last September; it ‘provides vital support’ for children and young people with specialist mental health needs in the South of England and beyond. Formerly Woodhaven, the 14-bedded hospital has undergone a £7 m refurbishment by Kier Southern. The Trust said: “Austen House is the only NHS unit of its kind in the South region; its opening will mean that young people and their families no longer have to travel hundreds of miles to receive the vital support they need.”
Aim to publish test standards ‘within months’
Following news in the April 2019 The Network that draft guidance developed jointly by the Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN) and the BRE for testing some of the products most widely used in mental healthcare settings would be put out for consultation later in the year, it is hoped that finalised guidance can be published this Spring.
Last June the guidance was sent in draft form to DiMHN’s entire membership – which includes estates and facilities professionals, nursing and clinical staff, architects, and representatives from product designers and manufacturers, for comment; the six-week consultation exercise drew a ‘very favourable’ response. Having considered the suggestions, the joint DiMHN/BRE team made some revisions, before in November submitting the draft to the BRE’s governing body for scrutiny and ‘approval’. Philip Ross (pictured), who leads the DiMHN’s Innovation & Testing Workstream, elaborated: “The BRE Board has been considering the guidance – which covers the ligature risks and robustness of all products used in mental healthcare settings, and also focuses specifically on the cleanability of windows – such as those featuring mesh screens, and anti-barricade considerations for doorsets – since. Overall, the feedback from the consultation was extremely positive, but we did receive a number of valuable and well-thought-out suggestions for changes; we considered these, and, where appropriate, made revisions.
Using its unique ‘Design, Define, Deliver’ process, Kingsway Group submitted a full-scale sample to the Trust for its clinical, security, capital projects, and design teams to test and evaluate. Kingsway said: “The process was conducted in an open way, with other manufacturers also submitting doorsets for assessment. An off-the- shelf written testing procedure would not have suited this project, due to the patient group’s unique needs.” Kingsway Group’s ‘Switch’ anti- barricade doorset was decided upon after several iterations, with Paul Johnson, the Trust’s Capital Project Programme manager, ‘making a vital design contribution’ for the design of the internal release handle – resulting in the creation of the Kingsway Smart ‘electro handle’, which is flush to the door, and allows release of the access control ‘in a safe and intuitive way’. Paul Johnson added: “I really recommend that anybody looking for a door like this comes and has a look, and talks to Kingsway.”
THE NETWORK | JANUARY 2020
“In August,” he continued, “we presented the guidance to about 300 interested individuals in the US via a webinar. The initiative is thus gaining traction not just in the UK, but also overseas. We hope the BRE Board will approve the draft, or suggest any further changes, early this year, and that we will then be in a position to publish the completed guidance soon after. “Once it is finalised – and discussion between the DiMHN and BRE is already ongoing on this – we hope BRE will be established as the official testing body. Its experts would then be able to test and evaluate products used in mental healthcare settings using the designated criteria and a ‘test and declare’ approach, and award each an easily comparable grading – achieving the initiative’s number one goal: greatly simplifying the task of specifying the ‘right’ product for each application.”
New robust integrated override lockset
Coming to the market soon, Safehinge Primera’s newest product – the Integrated Override Lockset – recognises the importance of patient empowerment alongside fast, reliable access in emergency situations. The new integrated override mechanism within the lockset is operated using a staff-only, anti- tamper key, automatically releasing an emergency lever. Once the lever is deployed, it overrides the patient turn/pull to unlock the door, while its internal ratchet mechanism prevents the door from being re-locked from the inside. The robust lever gives staff superior grip to overcome resistance and pull the door open.
Used alongside their anti-barricade
stop, staff can gain access in under five seconds. The intuitive design incorporates
visual prompts and standard ‘emergency’ design language to avoid any ambiguity in its operation,
and reduces the impact of stress or adrenaline during an emergency. The lockset is then easily reset, with no keys or tooling required, and a reduced need for staff training. Safehinge Primera says: “This
electronic lockset truly balances safety and independence – empowering patients with the autonomy to secure and access their own bedroom, while staff have peace of mind that they can gain emergency access.”
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