Hot on the heels of the “Design Bugs Out” initiative (HEJ – June 2009), which saw designers, the Design Council, and the Department of Health’s HCAI Technology Innovation Programme work together to develop infection-beating products, a further collaborative innovation scheme has been launched, this time focusing on patient privacy and dignity.
In early October The Design Council launched a national design challenge, “Design for Patient Dignity”, inviting designers to join forces with manufacturers, service providers and specialist contractors to help eliminate mixed sex accommodation and increase patient privacy and dignity in hospitals. In partnership with the Department of Health, it announced it was seeking up to five collaborative design teams, each to receive a minimum of £25,000 to develop and prototype new approaches which help hospitals:
• eliminate mixed sex accommodation through physical or environmental design concepts such as new forms of partitioning or model layouts for wards or bathroom areas.
• maximise privacy and dignity where complete segregation cannot be provided immediately (for example in acute wards).
The teams will also receive support to develop their ideas and ownership of the intellectual property. Teams have been asked to submit an 800-word summary on how they would approach the challenge, with solutions which would work at ward level, offer good value for money, and take into account the behaviour of hospital staff, patients and their visitors. The deadline was 26 October. The Design Council said it had been essential to set an early deadline because the Department of Health wanted rapid progress made. David Kester, Design Council chief executive, said: “The question is simple: Can you make it better? Most designers at one time or another have thought: if the NHS would ask, we could make such a difference. This is just that opportunity to help improve the experience of patients by better design, and own a stake in the ideas as well.” The chosen teams will be asked to deliver prototypes by March 2010. The Design Council has recruited an advisory board of respected designers, manufacturers, healthcare experts, staff and patients’ organisations to advise the winning teams during the development phase. For more information visit: www.designcouncil.org.uk
