Reinvention, rather than make do and mend

As mental health emerges from the shadows of being the poor relation in healthcare, estates teams are rising to the challenge in re-providing the facilities so desperately needed to deliver service improvements. The renewed national impetus and determination to improve mental healthcare is welcomed and accepted as long overdue, but in the surge of enthusiasm for new and better, it is important to recognise the elements of value in existing facilities before sweeping everything away. It is true that much of the old should be buried – cramped, locked facilities with no access to outside space – but, with a strong and experienced specialist team, there can be a cost-effective and more sustainable alternative.

When Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust (SHSC NHS FT) reviewed its options for a new Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), it chose to work with what it already had, rather than start from scratch. Mental Health services had been delivered from the Longley Centre at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital for over 40 years; staff, service-users, and their families, knew the location, and were familiar with their routes there. Reusing the existing building would provide continuity for users, as well as being a more sustainable and cost-effective solution, but would only be considered as a viable option if the new design could reflect the Trust’s ambitious plans.

The Trust procured the project following the completion of a wider estates strategy. The team, led by Arcadis, included P+HS Architects and CAD21 Building Services Consultants, and was procured through the Buying Solutions framework; it was selected for its empathy and understanding of mental healthcare environments, and for its ability to create a new, forward-thinking vision for the Trust.