RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES

In the second of two opening keynote speeches at Day Two of May’s Design in Mental Health conference in Solihull, Ian Callaghan, a long-standing user of mental health services, who is today the national service-user lead for My Shared Pathway and Recovery and Outcomes in secure mental healthcare, gave the perspective of a service-user, and now also a regular visitor to inpatient mental healthcare facilities in a professional role, on ‘best practice in design, with recovery in mind’.

Speaking on the first day of the DIMH 2015 conference in Solihull, Matthew Balaam of Oxford Architects, project manager on the Better Bedroom initiative, explained how, following the news that a second Better Bedroom could not, as originally planned, be installed at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Swandean adult inpatient unit in Worthing, suppliers had worked tirelessly to provide the materials and components to enable a BB2 to be assembled and showcased at May’s conference instead.

Juliet Erridge, an associate director at David Morley Architects, describes the context and background to the practice’s work to bring St Bernard’s Hospital, a low secure unit in Ealing which was originally the first purpose-built asylum to be completed in England and Wales, ‘into the 21st century’ for the West London Mental Health NHS Trust. She spoke about the redevelopment of the new medium secure campus at May’s Design in Mental Health 2015 conference with Barbara Wood, the Trust’s redevelopment programme manager (Service and Business Change).

In the opening keynote presentation at this year’s Design in Mental Health conference, John Short, chief executive of the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – one of England’s largest mental healthcare providers – described his own professional experience of mental healthcare environments, and set out some key pointers on features and characteristics that can ‘make or break’ inpatient units, and have far-reaching impacts on both service-users and staff.

The 2015 Design in Mental Health Dinner & Awards were held at the National Motorcycle Museum on 19 May, during this year’s Design in Mental Health conference and exhibition. The evening provided a chance to relax, unwind, and make and renew contacts, and saw the presentation of the 2015 DIMH Awards. Guests were also treated to a thought-provoking after-dinner speech by author, campaigner, columnist, and mental health service-user, Clare Allan. The Network editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.