Joint meeting with Stakeholder groups on the Draft Arts Strategy for the New Adult and New Children’s Hospital

Summary of the meeting held on 16th November 2010

The big issues discussed included:

  • How the strategy focuses on dignity for patients and staff, distraction and how patients can personalise their environment
  • How the draft strategy considers areas including wards and single rooms; family and carer facilities; play areas and adolescent areas; outpatients and A&E; external areas and main entrances and access and wayfinding

Joint meeting with Stakeholder groups on the Draft Arts Strategy for the New Adult and New Children’s Hospital

16th November 2010

Present

Dan Harley, Community Engagement Manager

Jacki McIlraith, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Ann Ferguson, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Jinty Mann, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Anne Macdonald, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Margaret Millmaker, Community Engagement Advisory Group

John McKnight, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Nan McKenzie, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Frank McFarlane, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Lisa Martin, Community Engagement Advisory Group

Deborah MacMillan, Better Access to Health Group

Terry Robinson, Better Access to Health Group

Alan Henderson, Better Access to Health Group

Alison Dunbar, Better Access to Health Group

Ruth Hart, Better Access to Health Group

Margaret Johnston, Better Access to Health Group

Elizabeth Kershaw, Better Access to Health Group

Lisa Kerr, Youth Panel

Dagmar Kerr, Family Panel

Lorna Gray, Community Engagement Team

Apologies

Donald Anderson, Better Access to Health Group

Agnes McGroarty, Better Access to Health Group

Jabeen Muhammad, Better Access to Health Group

Barbara Walker, Better Access to Health Group

In Attendance

Chris Freemantle, Ginkgo Projects

Jackie Sands, Arts and Health Coordinator, Health Improvement Team

Imogen Assenti, Assenti & Co.

Shona Cardle, Chief Executive, Yorkhill Children’s Foundation

Dan introduced Chris Fremantle, from Ginkgo Projects, a public art consultancy working with Brookfield Europe. Chris will present on the draft arts strategy for the New Adult and New Children’s Hospitals.

Dan advised that today’s session would

  • not cover any clinical aspects of the hospitals but will look at how arts will be incorporated into the design;
  • cover the draft strategy for the New hospitals and would be linked to the site masterplan in some ways, however it will not extend across the whole of the site including existing buildings.

Chris began by advising that the art work used in his presentation slides were inserted purely to illustrate key points and that specific art installations were not yet decided upon. Places where art would be located have been decided in broad terms and he will cover this. However at the moment, this is still a draft strategy, so he welcomed feedback from attendees.

Chris began by explaining to attendees that their views had hopefully been incorporated by Gingko in the process to construct the draft strategy specifically in relation to the community engagement publications produced in 2010.

The strategy is creative led and evidence based – the work will be attractive, but will all be useful in improving health and wellbeing. In their research Gingko identified the 5 priorities as being important. These are:

  • Character
  • Functionality/ usefulness
  • Infection Control
  • accessibility and wayfinding
  • future proofing

Chris highlighted that 4 different workstreams will come together including interior design; wayfinding; landscape design; and therapeutic design. Ginkgo are responsible for the therapeutic design, however all these areas are linked and, for instance, there is an important element of way finding in the arts programme. The main objectives of the arts strategy are in addition to wayfinding focused on

  • dignity for patients and staff (e.g. appropriate areas for staff to talk to patients or their families/ carers);
  • distraction;
  • participation and personalisation (allowing patients and staff to personalise and be part of their environment).

Chris highlighted the key requirements, driven by the patient journey, for patients, visitors and staff. Chris noted that all art installations will need to comply with infection control and access requirements.

A mapping exercise has been undertaken to look at priority areas in different journeys.

Ward Areas and Single Rooms

There is a need to be able to identify where you are as well as creating an identity for wards. This will be done by designing the art for each floor, based on the external landscape that can be seen from the ward, with socialisation spaces having individual elements. The theme will continue throughout the floor, including in the lift vestibule to orientate people.

Family and Carer Facilities

70 rooms have been identified as dedicated quiet/ interview rooms. Some of these rooms will have different lighting/ furniture/ carpeting to make them appropriate to the use of the room. A ‘100 flowers’ arts project aims to bring flowers into the hospital environment through art by creating different designs of flowers to form points of interest.

Play Areas and Adolescent Areas

Artists will work with patients in Yorkhill to create images that can be taken into the new Childrens hospital, helping the children to shape their own environment.

Outpatients and A&E

In these areas there will be a creative approach taken to reinforce public access routes to departments through using feature walls keeping with the themes of the floor. This compliments the signage that will also be visible and reinforce the wayfinding message.

External areas and Main Entrances

Temporary exhibitions and a performance area will be given space in the main entrance areas. It is also recognised that importance needs to be given to children’s art and there will be display areas both on wards and also in public areas of the new Children’s Hospital.

Access and Wayfinding

Art work will be applied to walls and junctions etc to enable better wayfinding.

Questions

  • Jackie – will the strategy include the work of children in the hospital?
    Yes, display areas will be on ground level and at ward level. This could also include the work of local schools. Every bedroom in the new Children’s Hospital will also have a magnetic whiteboard allowing children to draw/ write and stick things allowing them to personalise their space.
  • Jinty – will the shipbuilding history be included in the artwork?
    Yes, the concept behind the overall design of the new buildings incorporates the idea of a Ship (New Children’s Hospital); docked against a pier (New Adults Hospital). Shipbuilding will be 1 of a number of themes that take into account both the history of Govan and Glasgow, as well as the rest of Scotland.
  • Jackie Sands – strategy still in development and to be signed off. It will hopefully enable links with lots of different organisation and community art projects.
  • Alison noted that the performance space will also need a loop system included. Chris agreed to take this back to the project team.

Dan thanked Chris for his presentation.