NEWS
New adult and older person’s mental health unit for Glan Clwyd
BAM has been asked by Betsi Cadwaladr University (BCU) Health Board to develop the detailed design for constructing a new inpatient adult and older persons’ mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital near Rhyl in North Wales. On 10 October the Welsh Government
approved the Health Board’s outline plans, and the scheme can now proceed to a full assessment. BAM say its involvement ‘builds on the excellent track record’ of schemes it has developed together with BCU, including a cancer treatment centre, and a neonatal intensive care unit. The £84.5 m, 63-bed mental health
facility would replace the existing care and support services presently provided at the hospital’s Ablett Unit, and at the Bryn Hesketh inpatient older persons’ mental health facility in Colwyn Bay. The plans include a 14-bed older persons’ mental health ward with en-suite facilities and improved recreational spaces, plus a 13-bed dementia care assessment unit. Provision will be made for families and carers to stay with loved ones overnight. There will also be a secure courtyard, en-suite facilities to all bedrooms, and recreational and therapy spaces, plus two 16-bed adult wards, each with a de- stimulation area. An assessment suite, and more outdoor and therapeutic space, plus improved staff and family facilities, will also feature. The new building will provide acute
inpatient mental health care to adults from Conwy, Denbighshire, and parts of Flintshire, with the new Dementia Assessment Unit harnessing the latest evidence on dementia supportive environments. The project has been awarded to BAM under the NHS Building for Wales
framework., and, subject to final approvals, construction is expected to start in 2024 and complete in 2026. Biophilic design features will include
air-source heat pumps and roof-mounted photovoltaic cells. Teresa Owen, Executive director
responsible for BCUHB’s Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Division, said: “This news will be welcomed by the many patients, carers, staff, and partner organisations, who have helped shape these ambitious proposals. It represents a significant step forward in our improvement journey, as we work towards delivering a mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital that is fit-for- purpose. Work will now begin in earnest to complete a detailed and fully costed full business case. We look forward to sharing our proposals with Welsh Government, and the many other stakeholders with an interest in this much-needed development.”
Approving the outline case, Health Minister, Eluned, Morgan said: “It is vital that there are fit-for-purpose mental health facilities across Wales to deliver high quality care for people needing urgent help during crises. “These new plans will help improve the
working environment for staff, reduce maintenance costs, and provide patients and their families with the dignity and space they need to recover. “Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is subject to considerable scrutiny for mental health after being placed in Targeted Intervention by the Welsh Government. I am therefore pleased to see these ambitious and much-needed plans move one step closer.” The design partners for the scheme are
architects, Powell Dobson, the structural engineers, Ramboll, the M&E engineers, Arup, and the MEP installers, Lorne Stuart. Gleeds will provide project management and cost advisor services.
Integrated door alarm activation and annunciation
Two leading manufacturers and suppliers of patient safety products specifically designed for mental health and challenging environments have joined forces to develop an integrated door alarm activation and annunciation system. Following recent successful trials within a secure ward at an NHS Trust in the north-east of England, the Kingsway Group door-edge alarm is now fully compatible with the Specialist Alarm Services staff attack alarm system. “We have made successful modifications to our door alarm interface,” explained Rod Foot, Technical manager for Kingsway Group. “Our end-to-end cabling is now monitored, so if it was ever severed or accidently disconnected, a fault alert will be raised, ensuring that risk levels are reduced.” “From an SAS perspective,” added Dan
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Eastwood, Technical director at SAS, “it was very important to introduce a separate alarm call level for a ‘ligature alarm’, which has the highest priority alarm status. The result is that staff attending an incident are fully aware whether the alarm generated is an attack alarm or a potential ligature alarm.” SAS has also introduced electronic
testing procedures for the door alarm, whereby each reset device located next to the bedroom door will flash until it receives test alarm signals from the Kingsway Group door interface. The two businesses say: “This is an extremely positive step forward for both companies, and equally important for mental health Trusts, who will no longer have to install a separate annunciation system for door alarm activations.”
NOVEMBER 2022 | THE NETWORK
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