Project 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.
Project Dates
Start Date: 20/01/2004
Ongoing
Location of project
Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Area of healthcare
Acute care
Target groups
People with disabilities, Older people, Mental health, Carers
Guidelines followed
The involvement of the public was fundamental to this project's success and we used “Informing, Engaging and Consulting People in Developing Health and Community Care Services”. The process of involving the public was undertaken in line with the requirements of the National Standards for Community Engagement.
Approaches used
Nominal group technique, Action planning/ community appraisal, Focus groups, Interviews, Leaflets, 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.
Training undertaken
The volunteers received ongoing support throughout in order to help them to work actively and effectively with staff and relevant external contractors.
Furthermore, an independent researcher observed the process during the first 3 years of the project and conducted an evaluation following financial close of the contract. This led to a number of refinements and improvements in the model of user involvement.
Evaluation
The group contributed to multidisciplinary 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”.
Plans for the future
In 2007 the group reviewed its remit in order to support Greater Glasgow & Clyde to deliver accessible premises for the New South Glasgow Adult and Children’s Hospital.
The BATH model of community engagement has now been adapted for use in other capital schemes and a good practice booklet was produced for dissemination across the Board.
In October 2009 a follow-up report was produced by BATH on what had worked and what needs to be learned at each hospital site, along with further advice.