ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS


Creating controlled but more humane settings


Jo Makosinski, a journalist specialising in healthcare architecture and estates and facilities management, considers some of the drawbacks of ‘traditional’ key systems in inpatient mental healthcare settings, including the risk of keys being used for self-harm or harm to others. She also talks to Safehinge Primera, which has developed a wireless access control solution which fits directly onto doors that it says not only safeguards service-users and staff, but is also ‘about recovery, and giving inpatients some independence and responsibility’.


When you book a room in a hotel, can you imagine being told there are no keys, and to just head up to your room and staff will lock your door when you need to? Would you feel safe and secure in such a situation? Probably not, and you would very likely just turn around and leave. You would expect to be given a key (most likely an electronic keycard), enabling you to come and go as you please, while at the same time protecting your property and privacy. Yet in mental healthcare settings, it is commonplace for patient rooms to be locked or unlocked only when service- users are accompanied by a staff member. Philip Ross, Commercial director at electronic access control specialist, Safehinge Primera, explains: “If you couldn’t secure your own space, would you feel comfortable leaving your room, even to go to Reception to get someone to help? People who are already in a heightened and fragile state of mind then don’t have the simple confidence of security. The resulting insecurity can lead to people jumping to conclusions that someone else has been in their room, or has perhaps stolen something, when they might simply have misplaced it. Small things like this can lead to arguments flaring up between service-users. A lack of confidence in security has a significant effect on people and their wellbeing.”


Striking a balance


Despite these concerns, traditional key systems are still much more commonplace than you would imagine in mental health facilities across the country. This not only has a huge impact on staff time, but equally fails to meet the requirements laid out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which state that security measures should not ‘inadvertently restrict the movement of people’. This balance – between ensuring that service-users maintain their independence, but are also safe from harming themselves or others – has led to a step change in the way security is thought about in mental healthcare settings, with a growing acceptance that giving service-


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The Ribblemere Mother & Baby Unit (MBU) at Chorley Hospital features an access control management system including electronic lockset with five-way mechanical staff override.


users increased control over their environment can reduce anxiety and incidents of violence. However, this privacy and independence can conflict with patient safety if the correct staff override mechanisms are not in place.


Unnecessarily restrictive Martin Lees, one of Safehinge Primera’s Electronic Access Control managers, explains: “Traditional metal key systems are not only unnecessarily restrictive, but


the keys themselves are a risk, as they can be used to self-harm or to injure others. The safety of the patient is the first priority, so this, and pressure from the CQC, have led to a requirement for a new way of approaching security within mental health facilities.”


Speaking at this May’s Design in Mental Health 2019 Conference in Coventry, mental health expert by experience, Katharine Lazenby, said of some of the facilities in which she had been treated:


The Brunswick Ward at Mill View Hospital, Hove, is equipped with a Safehinge Primera access control management system featuring an electronic lockset with five-way mechanical staff override and the Oryx handle – designed for dementia patients and those with reduced dexterity. The system also enables wristband access.


JULY 2019 | THE NETWORK


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