NEWS


Liverpool’s new Clock View to ‘set new standards’


Mersey Care NHS Trust has officially opened its new £25 million Clock View Hospital, designed by Medical Architecture (MAAP), which it says it hopes will ‘set new standards’ for mental healthcare in the UK. Constructed by Farrans Heron Joint Venture


on the site of the former Walton Hospital, Clock View is named after the famous local clock tower overlooking the site. Incorporating 80 individual en suite rooms, it will provide short- stay treatment for mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and dementia. It will also house Liverpool’s new psychiatric intensive care unit, and be the base for a new local assessment and immediate care service. Mersey Care worked with NHS LIFT


developer, Liverpool Sefton Health Partnership (LSHP), to complete the project via a public/private partnership. LSHP chairman, Humphrey Claxton, said: “Since we started LSHP a little over 10 years ago, we have managed over £120 million of investment, and developed 15 new health facilities in Liverpool and Sefton, of which Clock View is the largest. The hospital sets a new standard for mental healthcare.” The architects, Medical Architecture, and


landscape architects, Camlin Lonsdale, worked closely with Mersey Care to develop ‘a modern, therapeutic environment where service-users and staff come together’. The two-storey building is partly dug into a hollow below the Clock Tower building, but opens up to the busy Rice Lane with a landmark transparent two- storey ‘lantern’ entrance reception. Single-storey ward buildings are linked by a sheltered walkway and gardens. Safe, generously-planted, gardens are a key


feature, while art and sculpture provide points of reflection, and the interior design features timber and warm colours. The new hospital was designed to provide


Security, privacy,


and protection The Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust’s new, recently opened, 154-bed inpatient unit, The Harbour, in Blackpool, represents a major investment by the Trust, with its design and construction having seen significant engagement with staff, service-users, their relatives, and local residents. Located just off the M55, The Harbour incorporates a psychiatric intensive care unit, and was delivered under ProCure 21+ with IHP as Principal Supply Chain Partner, as part of the Trust’s long-term development strategy for inpatient services. The predominantly single- storey building has 10 ground floor ward units with access to external areas, each comprising a series of single rooms with en suite bathrooms and toilets. The hospital was designed with extensive


light, airy spaces, ‘individual bedrooms of the highest standards for privacy and dignity’, and communal activity areas and safe inner courtyard gardens to aid recovery. There are also learning and education spaces; a café; individual and group therapy and activity spaces; space for self-help, advocacy, and voluntary organisations; spiritual space, and family visiting and meeting rooms, ‘all contained in attractive low-level buildings surrounded by landscaping’. Visiting the new facility on 14 March, where


he announced Government plans to provide an extra £1.25 bn over the next five years for young people’s mental health services, Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said that with Clock View’s opening, the care available to people in Liverpool with mental health issues had entered ‘ a new galaxy of quality’.


Flooring contributes to dementia ward’s success


Nearly a year after Altro safety flooring was installed in a new dementia ward at Warrington Hospital, statistics collected by estates personnel at the Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust suggest the products have made a significant impact in reducing slips and trips, cutting falls, and helping create a relaxed, calming environment, The Altro flooring features in the ‘Forget


Me Not’ ward alongside a ‘mock’ bus stop, lounge area with traditional-look fireplace, ‘quiet room’ with a 1960s-style TV, and special dementia garden area. The Trust was among the beneficiaries of £50 m in Department of Health funding in 2013 for dementia care environments. The £1 m ward, created via the refurbishment of an


elderly care ward, opened last May. Lee Bushell, Warrington Hospital’s estates


officer, Capital Projects, said: “The Trust has always audited dementia patients and monitored slips, trips, falls, violence and aggression, plus average stay length. The audit process has continued in more detail on the new 21-bed ward, and in other dementia wards. We collected the existing data prior to the ward opening over a six-month period before works started, as a part of the bid process with the King’s Fund and the Department of Health. This stipulated that we continue the process for a minimum of 12 months after the ward’s completion. “The results so far are astounding. There are


fewer patient attacks on staff, fewer slips, trips and falls, and patients with a history of violence


service-user and clinical input, based on good practice guidance and ‘safety by design’. The ethos is to deliver therapeutic care which is empowering, person-centred, needs-led, and focused on promoting recovery and independence. Respecting privacy and dignity is an essential element Vistamatic vision panels were specified at


the Trust and architect, Gilling Dod’s request to allow discreet patient observation. Fitted in conjunction with main contractor, Vinci, and door manufacturer, Doorset Technology, 224 Vistamatic oblong vision panels feature, including in all bedroom doors, treatment areas, and consultation rooms. The panels incorporate 10 mm/19 mm modified toughened glass with soft closing dampers and key operation.


are quickly calm and relaxed. Stay length has vastly reduced, and there is less sickness and absence among staff, who are happier in their working environment. “There are no issues with cleaning, and the


Altro flooring still looks good and is performing very well. We chose Altro Wood Safety and Altro Aquarius flooring because we have used them both at Warrington Hospital before with great success.”


THE NETWORK April 2015 5


Photos courtesy of Joel Goodman.


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