Shown by hardware and doorset specialist, Monaghan Hardware, at May’s Design in Mental Health exhibition prior to an official August launch, was the company’s i-slide anti-ligature pocket door solution for en suite bathrooms ‘and other personal areas’.
Designed ‘to prevent the use of even the smallest ligatures’, the i-slide was developed ‘with the clear aim of removing all possible ligature points around the doorset and its components’. Monaghan says this can only be achieved via a pocket door, ‘removing access to the top edge of the door leaf’. i-slide is designed ‘to cope with many of the potential difficult scenarios in a mental health environment’, including:
- ‘Dirty protests’ – carefully designed joints, use of elastomeric seals, and the inclusion of anti-microbial components, ensure minimal impact from such events, while reducing downtime due to cleaning.
- Barricade situations – various hardware options minimise surfaces that allow closing force to be applied from within. Door removal from the outside is rapid, and ‘cannot be hindered’.
- Bodily impacts – a reinforced wall and frame mean minimal deflection under heavy impact.
- Sustained tampering – anti-tamper fixings, secure seals, and concealed mechanisms, reduce tamper opportunity.
- Physical abuse – a bi-directional door damper ‘takes the force’ out of the opening and closing cycle, also reducing associated noise.
Other features include an option for a low energy automatic operator; proximity, keypad, biometric, and key switch operations; all power and controls out of patient reach; a deep door frame and overlap overhead prevent access to the top edge; tight tolerances between door and frame minimise patient abuse opportunities; a full range of anti-ligature hardware; various widths and heights, and rigid steel pocket sidewalls with multi-layer coverings to prevent impact damage. The i-slide was commended by the judges in the Product Innovation Award category at his year’s DIMH Awards.