Step Exhibitions
Collaboration In Action – Modular Bedroom with One-key for Staff
Nominee Information
Nurses face daily frustration with managing multiple keys. Often they need a key for patient bedrooms, a key to access the vision panel, a key to access anti-barricade devices, a key to operate windows and a key to open locked furniture or storage boxes. The safe management of these keys also presents significant challenges and risks, all of which can be even more challenging if nurses are asked to work in a ward they are unfamiliar with.
Darwin Group, Safehinge Primera, Polar NE and Tough Furniture have used their collective design expertise to find a solution to this problem. Untying nurses of the shackles of multiple keys, we are proud to be able to co-develop a one-key approach that utilises the tried and tested anti-tamper Lifeline Key from Safehinge Primera commonly used by hospitals throughout the UK. This solution allows a single key to operate a range of products within a bedroom; whether it be the bedroom window, a locked drawer or the observation panel and activating the anti-barricade override. It means safe and reliable access is quick and the management of keys is made much simpler.
The key has been carefully designed to provide safe and reliable access for nurses, even if the patient has attempted to block access to the keyway. Unlike square drive keys, the Lifeline key cannot be operated using commonly available items in a room.
This unique collaboration between three of the leading innovators within Mental Health design is an intriguing concept that could have significant benefits in improving safety and allowing nurses to spend more of their energy caring for patients and less time looking for another key.