INPATIENT FACILITY DESIGN


Kingsway’s new Serenity interactive panel gives service- users a level of control and personalisation – such as allowing them to play videos and music, and upload photos.


“Ultimately,” he added, “our core


products are door and technology products, and we’re about helping keep people safe – both mental health service- users, and the staff looking after them.” He explained that in its earlier days Kingsway moved from purely supplying door components, to manufacturing complete integrated door systems, and in the past 3-4 years particularly, has seen growing demand for associated ‘technology products’ to aid and support staff. He said: “So, for example, our new Serenity interactive panel gives service-users a level of control and personalisation – such as allowing them to play videos and music, and upload photos. Another feature on it that has resonated well with both service- users and staff is a ‘check-in’ facility, which is programmable so that, say, every 2-3 hours, a button appears on the screen with a different range of faces – from ‘happy’ to ‘sad’, so the service-user can indicate how they are feeling to staff via the nurse call station, prompting a conversation. There is always a reminder on their panel to the inpatient that ‘it’s time to check in’.” Mark Childs said feedback from service- users indicates that cameras in their ‘private’ bedroom space can really unnerve and unsettle them, feeling highly intrusive. He elaborated: “Who wants to be observed 24/7? – so we haven’t included a camera in Serenity, which also means retaining the personal interaction between service-user and staff member, which makes such a big difference to recovery.” He continued: “Serenity also allows service-users or staff to change the colour of the lighting, to create a different feel depending on their mood or the time of day. This could be especially useful in, say, a de-escalation suite, to engage somebody and help calm them.” Moving to another recently launched


product, Mark Childs said: “Our Kosmos Smart Monitoring System was developed


THE NETWORK | NOVEMBER 2024


A change in flooring a metre or so inside, with clear delineation of space, makes it implicit that beyond the line is the service-user’s space.


following extensive research with our NHS Trust partners, as a patient monitoring software product that allows clinical teams to fully monitor ligature alarms, and record an audit trail of patient activity and staff observations. It’s vital in mental healthcare environments that staff are aware of door ligature incidents. Kosmos ensures this by providing the next level of ligature alarm technology to enable swift clinical response.


NPD lab “Our New Product Development team has a fantastic lab facility here,” Mark Childs explained, “and, equally, we, or, for instance, NHS Trust visitors, can test our products to destruction on the premises. At yesterday’s open day we had some visitors test our latest shower door. NHS Trusts and private healthcare providers considering buying items for mental healthcare facilities can of course have products tested ‘in house’ or externally, for aspects like fire safety and security, but we have always found having our own test facilities here invaluable.” Mark Childs explained – having briefly


alluded to its testing – that the ‘new’ Shower door is a fixed door solution, and can be personalised, via custom printing of, for example, colorful images of nature, or, as per a recent example – hot air balloons, onto the outer surface. He said: “We’re finding lots of those we work with want to create a theme to help de- institutionalise their patient bedrooms.” Kingsway Group explains that the


new anti-ligature Shower Door System is designed to minimise the risk of loss of life in mental healthcare en- suite bedrooms, while simultaneously maintaining patient dignity. The company says: “It delivers independently verified strength and ligature resistance, with the door and hinge achieving the highest grade ligature resistance (B4) in third-


party testing to the Door and Hardware Federation’s TS001:2013 standard.” The door incorporates both a high-strength EnduraFlex panel, to safely preserve patient dignity, and a patent-pending MegaHinge system with no ligature pinch points, plus a flexible fin to prevent ligature entrapment at the closing edge. Static load rated to 800 lb, the Shower Door has been third-party tested to withstand overextension of 3 kN force, and is installed fixed to the frame to avoid weaponisation. Available with a self-closing mechanism, and with custom imagery printed across the entire panel, it can be supplied as a complete door system, or for retrofit. Mark Childs said: “To date we’ve done quite a lot of third party testing, and the shower leaf hasn’t broken, even with three kilonewtons of force through it; in fact it just bends back on itself rather than shattering.”


‘Less institutional’ Sensory Door He added: “We also recently launched our Sensory door, designed specifically for a CAMHS environment. An anti-ligature door, it can also be anti-barricade and incorporate alarms, but its look and feel is softer and warmer. It has a specially- developed handle, suitable for both adult and smaller hands, and a new circular vision panel, the Eclipse, still going through testing, and designed to give a less institutional feel than ‘traditional’ square or oblong such panels. Our NPD team has created some really nice elements. For example, clinical teams have to do regular ‘observations’ of service-users, and with ‘conventional’ vision panels, staff looking into the room have to slide the panel, which can make a metal sound that can be disruptive at night. In contrast, the Eclipse is almost silent, ensuring service-users get uninterrupted sleep. Again, the Eclipse was developed in response to customer and expert-by-experience feedback.”


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46