NEWS


Trial partners sought for non-visual patient safety aid


Glasgow-based designer and manufacturer of specialist doorsets, finger guards, locksets, and other window and door products for mental health and education settings, Safehinge Primera, is seeking co-design partners and organisations such as mental health Trusts to undertake live trials to help further develop a new ‘non-visual patient safety aid (NVPSA)’ system. An alternative to manual and


camera-based observations of mental health service-users, the sensor-based Project X system aims to safeguard patient privacy and dignity, while providing ‘100% coverage, 100% of the time’, in all areas of the bedroom, including en-suite bathrooms. Safehinge Primera said: “Huge disparities exist between the general and mental healthcare tools available to nurses. Manual observations mean patients are typically observed only 3% of the time. While cameras can be used, their suitability in bedrooms is questionable, and unlawful in bathrooms and en-suites, creating an obvious blindspot. They can also infringe on patient privacy.” Safehinge Primera adds that camera use


to observe patients in bedrooms ‘contradicts human rights, and forces healthcare providers to choose between the right to privacy and the right to life’. It said: “Our new non-visual patient safety aid (NVPSA) removes the need to make this choice.” The ‘Project X’ system will cater for non- visual, sensor-based observation of: l Whole bedrooms and bathrooms (‘non- visual sensors cover where cameras cannot’), including specific high-risk areas.


l A person collapsed on the floor. l Multiple occupancy to overcome safeguarding concerns.


Improving service- user environments in Nottinghamshire


Tilbury Douglas has successfully completed the construction of Tall Trees and the Glade at Highbury Hospital in Nottingham for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. This includes a refurbishment and


The new development is based on the


long-term success of Safehinge Primera’s existing products, and ‘user insights’ on its digital anti-ligature doors. It said: “Rather than simply a technological advancement, this initiative represents a transformative platform for the future of mental healthcare, rebalancing the dynamics between staff and patients, while nurturing mutual engagement for enhanced recovery and staff support.” The trials’ aim is to continue the design of the digital platform – which Safehinge Primera says ‘will proactively provide ward oversight for nurses, and support decision- making based on real-time information’. Reports will also be provided to encourage patient-nurse interactions to discuss patient well-being and participation in their care. The sensors do not capture any identifiable data, only a non-identifiable ‘point cloud’ (see image). Safehinge Primera is actively seeking


to engage both with individuals with lived experience, and mental healthcare providers interested in being directly involved in the ‘co-design’.


Former boxer’s heavyweight efforts to help mentally unwell


‘Pioneering efforts’ by the former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, Frank Bruno, who is helping people with mental ill health back into work, have been welcomed by Health Minister, Maria Caulfield, during a visit to the Frank Bruno Foundation in Northampton. This follows the government unveiling


what it has dubbed ‘an unprecedented £795 m of additional funding so that


thousands of people can be helped back into work over the next five years’. Funding will expand NHS Talking Therapies, enabling an additional 384,000 people to benefit from treatment over the next five years. The former professional boxer, who has spoken openly about how exercise has played a vital role in his battle with mental health challenges, set up the Frank Bruno Foundation in 2017, offering wellbeing programmes and structured non-contact boxing sessions for anyone aged over 10 experiencing mental ill health. A ‘stay in work’ scheme – aimed at helping professionals with mental health difficulties stay in work and prevent long-term sickness – is central to the foundation’s work. An associated ‘wraparound service’ helps professionals deal with other contributing struggles such as housing,


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money worries, addiction, family difficulties, and bereavement.


Maria Caulfield said: “Frank and his


team are doing a great job at getting people fighting fit through boxing classes, using innovative techniques to support local people with their mental health and wellbeing. In particular, it’s great to see his brilliant ‘stay in work’ scheme. This government is determined to help as many people as possible stay healthy, get off benefits, and move into work. That’s why we’ve just unveiled £795 m of new funding to provide more mental health treatments nationwide, and help those with mental health conditions stay in or find work.” Frank Bruno said: “We are providing a unique service to the mental health community in Northamptonshire, and it is having a really positive impact.”


FEBRUARY 2024 | THE NETWORK


reconfiguration of Tall Trees, a two- storey building that provides office accommodation with meeting rooms, breakout areas, meeting spaces, and staff amenity/rest facilities for the Trust’s mental health crisis teams. The second project, The Glade, is a refurbishment and new-build extension to provide a new mental healthcare outpatient facility comprising consultation rooms, group activity rooms, a reception, waiting area, and staff facilities. Works also include a new fenced garden for service-users. The handover also marks the first


anniversary of Sherwood Oaks Hospital, a 5,000 m2


complex refurbishment


project in Mansfield with new build extensions. Spread across three blocks, two housing four wards, and the other an administration area, the new site provides modern healthcare facilities for the inpatient care of approximately 70 patients with acute mental ill health. The Sherwood Oaks project generated £6.5 m of social value investment back into the community, with particular emphasis on skills and opportunities.


CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED / Courtesy of the Department of Health & Social Care


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