Guidance to help create ‘uplifting spaces’

Chairing the session, Jenny Gill, who was the coordinating technical author of the new guidance, began by introducing the panel of speakers, all of whom she explained had contributed input and expertise to the compilation of the new HBN. She said: “The last six months have been a very interesting time working on the new Health Building Note, and it gives me great pleasure to say that it is ready, but unfortunately in the run-up to the General Election, it has gone into Purdah. We had hoped to have it published by now, but the hope is that it will be published in June.”

Holding up a copy of the publication (which was in fact published in late June), the DIMHN chair stressed that the new Health Building Note HBN 03-02: Facilities for child and adolescent mental health services, must be read in conjunction with HBN 03-01. She elaborated: “When HBN 03-01 was developed, it was intended to be the base guidance document for all mental health units. The differences were going to be picked up in separate documents. The CAMHS HBN is in five parts, covers the principles of planning and design for Tier 4 CAMHS units, and includes case studies on recent and current schemes. There are also some tools, which Lianne Knotts will talk about in more detail later on.”

At this point Lianne Knotts took the podium. She explained: “For audience members that don’t know, CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The service provides assessment and treatment for children and young people with emotional, behavioural and other mental health difficulties, often quite complex when they are presented. Ideally, CAMHS services should be delivered close to home, but sometimes this just isn’t possible, and to ensure that the child or young person gets the best possible care there may be a need for inpatient care.” Such care was available UK wide, the speaker explained, for children aged 4- 12, and then for young people aged between 13 and 18. The new HBN guidance was, she explained, applicable to facilities for the latter age group, and relevant to both new-build and refurbishment projects. She said: “In terms of care pathways this guidance covers the design of inpatient accommodation for Tier 4 service-users. For those young people needing more in-depth treatment and therapy, there are Psychiatric Intensive Care Units. We do cover CAMHS PICUs, but additionally, the new DIMHN/NAPICU document, Design Guidance for Psychiatric Care Units 2017, may also include useful information.”