Better Access To Health - involving disabled people in hospital design

Dan Harley
Community Engagement Manager
Summary
Better Access To Health enabled a group of disabled people to influence the design of new hospitals in Glasgow over a 5-year period so that the buildings and services are accessible to all. The approach has been repeated in other building projects.
Dates
Start Date: 4
End Date: 11
Location
Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Sector
Acute care
Target groups
Carers, Mental health, Older people, People with disabilities
Methods Used
Focus Groups, Nominal Group Technique, Round-Table Workshops
Aims and objectives
To work with the NHS to ensure that the planning and delivery of Glasgow's new Stobhill and Victoria hospitals meets the needs of disabled people.

To include people with different needs and ensure that the barriers they experienced were addressed at an early stage in the planning process.

To add value to the design of the new hospitals so that the environment is as inclusive as possible.

To help the Community Engagement Team to communicate to the wider community what is being done.
What we did
The modernisation of Glasgow's acute hospital buildings and services is occurring at a time when more attention than ever is being devoted to ensuring that the core business is organised to reflect the needs of all staff and service users. In order to address this, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde commissioned a public involvement project to bring service users, and in particular disabled people, into the design and commissioning of the New Stobhill and Victoria Hospitals.

A number of enthusiastic and experienced members of the public were recruited to the 'Better Access To Health' (BATH) group and over the next 5 years met with the design teams and clinical colleagues responsible for each building, to share their views and experiences as end users of healthcare buildings. Many of their recommendations were incorporated into the final designs for New Stobhill and Victoria Hospitals, and led to the production of a resource booklet which has been adopted by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.
Impact
The group contributed to multi-disciplinary discussions which led to:
- the fitting of floor coverings that reduce glare
- the appraisal of patient furniture for the new buildings
- the installation of fully accessible toilets
- decisions on departmental naming conventions and the design and procurement of signage
- the fitting of toilet tissue holders rather than toilet roll, and
- the production of a good practice guide.

By involving patients and the wider public in the Better Access To Health group, and producing the accompanying booklet, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde was able to meet its HEAT target for "Improvement in the quality of the healthcare experience".
Evaluation