Inpatient Accommodation
Taking the Better Bedroom to the next level
Speaking on the first day of the DIMH 2015 conference in Solihull, Matthew Balaam of Oxford Architects, project manager on the Better Bedroom initiative, explained how, following the news that a second Better Bedroom could not, as originally planned, be installed at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Swandean adult inpatient unit in Worthing, suppliers had worked tirelessly to provide the materials and components to enable a BB2 to be assembled and showcased at May’s conference instead.
Matthew Balaam began his address by explaining that the Better Bedroom 1 is still operational within the Britplas factory showroom in Warrington, with new components continuing to be incorporated. In developing BB2, he said the same objectives set out for the first Better Bedroom had applied. He explained: “They are all important, but I am particularly passionate that ‘BB2’ should have a familiar, homely environment, incorporate the most up- to-date technology, move debate forward on anti-ligature fixtures and fittings, and stimulate and encourage the development of better products.” He told delegates: “At the IHEEM (Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management) Healthcare Estates 2014 conference, last October, we were all set for a refurbishment project within the headquarters of Sussex Partnership NHS FT, having undertaken our option appraisal and investigated eight different configurations, choosing to base the final layout on the ProCure21+ Functional and Organic bedrooms. Our plan was that our BB2 would sit opposite the P21+ bedroom in the Sussex Partnership’s Swandean unit in Worthing. The bedroom being showcased here in Solihull today still faithfully follows the configuration of the P21+ repeatable room, albeit with one change – the room is now 3,375 mm wide.”
‘DRAGON’S DEN-STYLE’ PROCESS Working with DIMHN chair, Jenny Gill, the project team had selected a panel of judges for a ‘Dragon’s Den-style’ interview process with the necessary breadth of mental health sector experience to ‘challenge’ the safety, security, privacy, and dignity aspects of the many products it was anticipated would be submitted for potential inclusion in the second Better
Matthew Balaam, project manager for the Better Bedroom initiative.
Bedroom. Matthew Balaam said: “After our call for innovation last October, we had over 60 products to choose from, and, over a two-day interview process, selected the team of suppliers to move forward.” The BB2’s installation at Swandean was not able to proceed, however, due to the strip-out and reinstatement costs entailed. “Even with a free issue of all components, and working with Kier, we could not sustain an outlay of over £20,000 to
cover the fit-out and re-instatement costs,” Matthew Balaam explained. “Simultaneously, the P21+ Repeatable Room team pulled out of its bedroom installation at Swandean, deciding to focus instead on an interactive web-based application.”
EMERGENCY MEETING After an emergency meeting at Taurus Fitted Bedrooms, the company offered to build the bedroom and en suite bathroom and deliver it to the conference. Matthew Balaam said: “All the chosen suppliers responded immediately and the hard work started. We now plan to promote the bedroom at The Mental Health and Dementia Facilities Forum (22-23 September at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire), and at the IHEEM Healthcare Estates 2015 conference in Manchester (20-21 October, Manchester Central).”
Moving to focus in more detail on the second Better Bedroom, he explained that he had 28 products to discuss in a brief ‘synopsis’, but urged delegates to visit each supplier’s exhibition stand to ‘understand the full reason why we selected them’. Starting at the room’s entrance, he said:
“The entrance and door threshold are among the room’s most important parts, defining the space between public and private. We chose to start this space within the corridor outside the room, to create a small area of defensible space – for visitors to stand in before being invited in, to hang your coat, take off your shoes, and call your own.
REINFORCING FEEL OF PUBLIC/PRIVATE SPACE “Working with Primera Life and its PassPort key,” Matthew Balaam explained, “Britplas developed the Safesee door, which reinforces the public/private space. Service-users can
‘All the chosen suppliers responded immediately and the hard work started’
The second Better Bedroom came together against tight deadlines thanks to the commitment and hard work of the project team and the many contributing suppliers.
THE NETWORK J u l y 2 0 1 5 21
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