design
impacting greatly on travel times for both staff and patients,” said Nick Fairham, architect director at BDP in Bristol. “In terms of future models of
care, and the direction of healthcare design, we can see this approach being a key focus.
“It is a major step change and one that is enabling better care for patients and greater efficiency in delivering emergency care.”
Form follows function
The trust itself carried out extensive research on the accommodation it already had and how it was being used, as well as looking at optimal patient flows.
Working with BDP, staff then explored how the new buildings could deliver these aims.
Fairham explains: “Architects talk about form following function and flow and nowhere is this more important than in healthcare, and particularly in accident and emergency. “We looked at a lot of available
research, including issues around designing A&E departments to reduce incidents of violence and aggression and, in understanding patient flow, it became apparent that, from arrival at the department, patients needed to feel as if they were progressing. “Traditionally, patients come through
the entrance to a reception and waiting area. They are then called into triage or assessment and then go back to the same waiting area in between. “One of the step changes with
Wexham Park was the decision to put the waiting area in the centre of the building.
New pathways
“New patient pathways have been developed to make care more efficient and enable patients to be cared for more quickly in the right place. “For example, patients may be
brought directly to assessment areas via a GP without going to A&E, or be given necessary tests and medication during the day so they can safely return home for the night.” The project also aimed to bring all adjacencies and modalities together so that transfer and walking times were dramatically reduced. “Under one roof, patients are now assessed and move through to diagnostics, treatment and inpatient areas much more quickly,” said Fairham. “This means that, once they leave the main waiting area they do not return, helping them to feel like they are making progress and reducing the usual frustrations.” The four-storey new-build development now links directly to the existing hospital, with an ambulance bay seamlessly connected to the resuscitation area. The emergency department itself is located alongside short-stay medical and surgical units on the EAC’s second floor.
The 34-bed medical unit cares for patients who are likely to be ready to go
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