Month: October 2016

At Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke, service user engagement has not simply informed a redevelopment project, it has defined it. Located in Weston-super-Mare, our 71-bed hospital provides emergency admissions, acute services, personality disorder pathways and high-support inpatient rehabilitation across five wards. In 2024, we identified an extraordinary opportunity, an eight-year disused, overgrown on-site farm that had once

Cubbie Sensory Spaces on MPFT Adult Mental Health Wards Adult inpatient wards can be high-stimulus environments where sensory overload often escalates into distress, violence, or self-harm. Within Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, limited estate space prevented the installation of traditional sensory rooms. A solution was required to improve the healing environment while remaining financially

Alarm systems are designed to protect patients. But when alarms trigger too frequently, they can create a dangerous new problem: alarm fatigue. In mental health environments, an ignored alarm could mean a missed opportunity to intervene during a ligature attempt. Research has shown that alarm fatigue can have fatal consequences when staff become desensitised to

EPiC HOPE is a community interest charity based in Wigan and Leigh, dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health crisis support. They provide safe spaces for people in distress, giving support, understanding, education and connection to MH services as required. They do this in all manner of settings, but the common themes are community, accessibility,

Capital Estates Team of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust We are a small “in house” design team (6 designers, and an Admin Support role) delivering refurbishment and new build projects for the Trust. These are either designed and managed from concept to completion by the team or by employing external architects and consultants to

The Calmadillow Rocking Chair was developed to address something we repeatedly saw in mental health environments: furniture that is safe and durable, but rarely designed with the emotional and sensory needs of patients in mind. For many people experiencing anxiety, agitation, or sensory dysregulation, movement can be grounding. Gentle rocking stimulates the vestibular system, which

Clinical teams in mental health environments must be able to access a patient’s room within seconds to reduce the risks associated with self harm or harm to others. Yet many emergency override lock systems remain inconsistent and operationally inefficient. Staff often rely on emergency toolkits stored elsewhere on the ward. These toolkits may be misplaced,

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Clinical Project Team have now led the Eradication of Dormitories Programme for over 5 years, starting with the Lincoln Project that opened in 2023, the team led by Mental Health Nurses with over 40 combined years of experience have now completed the last project in the programme, Havenside Ward at

Oaktree Ward at Cygnet Hospital Woking is a shining example of how a dedicated multidisciplinary team can transform even the most challenging clinical environments into spaces of recovery, safety and dignity. As an 11-bed female Low Secure Unit supporting women with complex mental health needs, the team consistently delivers exceptional care in circumstances that demand

In May 2025 we admitted a young autistic man. 18 years old, lived in Services since he was 11 and who moved 10 hours away from his family for his last chance. Over the past eight months, he has developed resilience and a growing faith in people who started as strangers – strangers who come