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Mental Healthcare ‘Hubs’/Building Design


and difficult process, the publicity around such campaigns, and the continued hard work of NHS organisations, are beginning to make an impact. South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS


Foundation Trust (SWYPFT), which provides community, mental health, and learning disability services to the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield, and some medium secure services to the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber, is a long-time champion of putting people who use services at the heart of its work, and of ‘anti-stigma’ campaigning. The Trust has a vision for the future to provide a service which enables people to reach their potential and live well in their community. This significant shift towards recovery, self-management, and self-care, requires a responsive attitude, and an active role in the heart of the communities the Trust serves. P+HS Architects is currently re-designing the built environment from which SWYPFT delivers frontline services.


ESTATES STRATEGY’S UNDERPINNINGS Alan Davis, director of human resources and workforce development, said: “The Trust’s estates strategy is underpinned by our values to make sure models of service define the buildings we work from. Our community hub developments are helping us to realise our vision to offer modern, flexible buildings which are easy to access for the people who need to use them, and offer modern, flexible working environments for our staff.”


IN SIGHT AND IN MIND Early in 2014 SWYPFT, working with P+HS Architects as part of the ProCure21+ framework, looked at how frontline services could be delivered closer to the people they serve. The Trust had established the need to provide community ‘hubs’, but the brief was to create an approachable ‘front door’. From the beginning it was evident that the ‘hub’ needed to be approachable and welcoming, but also to promote its purpose. Discussions took place regarding how people perceived primary care and the new wave of GPs’ surgeries being designed. Why should those concerned with mental health worries be any different to


A visualisation of the front elevation. As the proposed site lies opposite the Halifax Town Centre conservation area, care was taken in the design and specification of materials to be used.


‘Our community hub developments are helping us to realise our vision to offer modern, flexible buildings which are easy to access for the people who need to use them, and offer modern, flexible working environments for our staff’


physical health worries? Having extensive experience of both primary and mental healthcare projects, P+HS was perfectly placed to consider the delivery of such a brief.


FIRST OF TWO The first of the two projects for SWYPFT is for the upgrade of an existing Trust-owned property in Barnsley to improve the facility and its utilisation. The property, with a town centre location, is easily accessible by service-users, and suited to the ‘hub’ model of care. The scheme will provide a modern and


flexible environment from which to offer a diverse range of services, including child and adolescent mental health services, adult psychological therapy and psychiatry, muskulo- skeletal, and community nursing services. The re-modelling of the existing building will


create distinct and separate entrances to address privacy and dignity issues, and ensure that the needs of each specific service group are met.


SITE WITH DESIRED ‘COMMUNITY LINK’ Continuing with the development of community services, the second project for SWYPFT is the construction of a new Community Health Hub on the site of an existing acute healthcare building on Great Albion Street in Halifax. The building was identified as no longer fit for purpose due to a poor state of repair, and the presence of asbestos materials. Strategically the site offered the community link so desired. Sitting within about a five-minute walk from the town centre, it is easily accessible for patients who wish to access the facility by bus, car, bicycle, or by walking. The new hub, due for completion by


October this year (the main contractor is P21+ PSCP, Interserve), provides 2,020 m2 of accommodation across three floors, is proposed to allow for extended working hours, and will be open to the public between 8:00 am and 7:30 pm from Monday to Friday. The building will have a range of private and public functions. Private spaces include small meeting/group rooms and treatment rooms on the ground floor, larger group and meeting areas on the first floor, plus, on the second floor, support areas for the clinical accommodation, general office and administration areas, library, and storage. As part of a very welcoming approach to the design, the immediately accessible public areas include the reception, waiting, and sub-waiting areas, all served by a Trust-run café.


DESIGN PRINCIPLES The developed brief ensures that clear access into the building is provided – giving equal prominence to arrival on foot, by car, or by


The interior of the new Calderdale Community Hub in Halifax.


‘The floorplans have minimal columns, and a regular structural grid, promoting future flexibility, and in turn sustainability’


THE NETWORK April 2015 23


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