NEWS
‘Inspiring’ rehabilitation centre completed in Wesham
An ‘inspiring’ mental health rehabilitation centre in Lancashire has been handed over to the NHS. Architectural, design, and masterplanning practice, Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP) was appointed by Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) to deliver the £9.4 m centre, leading on the redevelopment of an existing hospital building at Wesham, near Blackpool, which had stood empty for over eight years. Construction was undertaken by the Eric Wright Group. A ‘community-facing’ rehabilitation service will now be based in the refurbished building on Mowbreck Lane, which includes a modern, timber-clad extension. The new Wesham Rehabilitation Centre has 28 en-suite bedrooms for people who have been in hospital and need support to regain skills and confidence with everyday tasks, and looking after their own health. There are expansive gardens and outdoor therapy areas, quiet lounges, and a ‘MasterChef-style’ communal kitchen, where residents can cook their own meals with staff support. Community space has also been included within the new entrance block. David Simmons, FWP associate partner, said: “User and clinical engagement meetings have allowed the design to evolve into a unit totally removed from people’s traditional view of a hospital environment. Our design encompasses lots of open access spaces, a warm and welcoming reception area, a truly uplifting central living space that contacts the two bedroom wings
Providing even better protection for healthcare staff
A family-owned business in Fife has announced significant upgrades to its award-winning staff safety systems, which can be found in Trusts across the UK, as well as Ireland and the US. Pinpoint was initially set up to address
for day-to-day relaxing and engagement, and full access to an exceptional garden, where residents can grow and nurture their own produce. “The centre is also working with a local charity to encourage residents to get involved in growing produce in the therapy gardens, some of which will later be sold in the community café within the centre entrance.” Joanna Stark, director of Operations
for the Fylde Coast at LSCft, added: “Our team and partners have worked incredibly hard over the past two years to open the Wesham Rehabilitation Centre, which we hope will pave the way for future mental health rehabilitation services across the region.” The Wesham centre is just one of several important refurbishment projects FWP has worked on for the Trust, which provides mental health services for communities in Lancashire and south Cumbria. FWP’s team of experienced consultants on the project included Cheadle Hulme-based TACE (M&E design support), TRP Consulting (civil engineering and structural design), and Manchester-headquartered Urban Green (ecology and external landscape designs).
increasing rates of violence toward hospital workers which had an impact on staff morale, absenteeism, and retention. The business is marking its 30th year by releasing a major upgrade to its security technology. It says the advancements will ‘provide even greater protection for healthcare staff working in a variety of high-risk settings, including hospitals, mental health, and correctional facilities’. Pinpoint said: “P2’s launch comes at a critical time for the healthcare sector. A 2022 YouGov survey found 67% of healthcare workers had experienced physical abuse in the previous 12 months, while 20% reported being subject to violence once a week. A British Medical Journal report, meanwhile, showed violent incidents in GP settings had doubled in the past five years.” Key features of P2 include:
l Designed to complement the spaces where Pinpoint’s products are found, the P2 system enjoys ‘a sleeker, more modern, design, at once discreet and accessible to the end-user’.
l Reliability – P2 ‘leverages proven technology and expertise developed over 30 years’.
l Robustness – ‘advanced technology, new materials, and optimised manufacturing processes’ combine to make the P2 ‘collection’ Pinpoint’s ‘most robust system yet’.
Wireless access control enables ‘intelligent lockdown’
Abloy says its SMARTair wireless access control solution gives Facilities managers full control to lock down access to areas of, or an entire building, ‘quickly and safely’ in an emergency. The company said:
“SMARTair offers intelligent access control – opening, locking, or maintaining access to individual doors or zones. With a single command, doors equipped with SMARTair devices may be set to ‘Block Mode’, and can then only be unlocked with a specific credential.” Apart from designated staff, no one on site can then move around
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freely. Alternatively, the ‘Emergency Close’ function can lock all openings remotely and simultaneously, but an authorised credential may still unlock them. As a third option, every device can be set to ‘Emergency Open’, which unlocks them all – for example to provide fire services with instant access to a whole building.
Full building lockdown may be initiated either from the system’s software interface or web manager, or via an emergency push-button connected to a SMARTair HUB. SMARTair also enables control of each individual door. A Facilities manager
can pre-define over 250 different lockdown ‘zones’, and – in an emergency – choose whether to lock down a whole zone, or just specific doors. Abloy UK added: “With intuitive management software and battery- powered locks, a SMARTair system is easy to install and convenient to use. It can handle a large number of users, with ‘credentials’ that include standard RFID cards, tags, and fobs, along with Mobile Keys via the SMARTair Openow app. The system is more cost-efficient to run than wired access control – which needs mains electricity, or traditional mechanical security – where locks must be managed manually and individually.”
AUGUST 2022 | THE NETWORK
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