1 May 2022
Welcome back to the blog! Month 2… the sequel!
May sees the anniversary of starting in this role and as much as I am impatient to see progress, I know that since discovering that we had the opportunity to design something bespoke for Primary Care, I have to say that we have made some grand leaps forward since then.
In this edition I said that I would share with you our ideas for the physical space, so here goes!
Good design to me means getting the most out of the space. This space could be all things to Primary Care like conferencing space, meeting rooms, workspaces, disaster recovery/planning spaces, simulation suites, team building areas; whilst also providing one to one confidential space, a resource centre, a cafe/refectory, e-bike charging and general cycle storage area etc.
We are working with a fantastic team of architects, but I was particularly interested in bringing in the creative team from Southerns Broadstock. They have a proven track record in creative bespoke interiors including NHS properties, and I feel their ideas and their ethos fit with ours. Dear reader, I would encourage you to peek at their website! Southerns Broadstock
In the meantime I’d like to refer you back to the 6 Principles from last month’s blog. To my mind having an innovative, well considered, well designed space aligns with most of them, and I am keen to share with you how.
Relevant Principle: |
Attribute: |
| To be at the forefront of Technological Advances & IT Solutions.
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To offer a space hosting the best technologically enhanced learning tools such as virtual, immersive, augmented and extended realities, a space where these can be used and explored to bring life to training, having a physical space reflective of the actual working environment and one where low and high tech simulation can be used to inspire and create a physical and emotional response from its users, creating a memory that stays with you. |
| To harness a Blended Approach to Learning & Development. | To have a space where a teaching exercise can be transmitted from or to the space where students are physically or digitally linked. All receiving the same experience and quality training no matter where they are. A blend of low and high tech solutions to simulated training bespoke to Primary Care. |
| To create an Environment of Excellent Pastoral CARE, concentrating on Good Welfare, Good Mental Health & a Positive Wellbeing. | To have a space that has been designed by specialists to create the perfect environment for working, training and socialising. To have safe, calm rooms, break out spaces, prayer and contemplation rooms. A soothing yet inspiring environment that sets the tone perfectly for the activities within it; perfectly zoned and designed for the promotion of good mental health and positive wellbeing, using textures and colours to suit that space. Outside green space with an emphasis on nature and health with the addition of running/walking tracks. |
| To be Inclusive. | Key clever design elements that pick out textures, colours, prints & lighting formats that help the visually impaired for example. Specifically selected colour pallets and images that promote a calmness whilst not excluding others in its use. |
In terms of ‘who’ would access this centre, I’ve always been keen that we understand that this is made by Primary Care for Primary Care but understanding that there is a wider meaning to that term other than General Practice. We envelope our Community Dentistry, Community Eye Care, Community Pharmacy colleagues into the term, focusing in the future on the integration with our wider Health & Social Care system colleagues too.
We start therefore with our development of space for our dentistry colleagues, providing somewhere bespoke which encapsulates the 6 principles for the benefit of dental professionals in the Primary Care workforce. The space has also been considered to host the GP Federation Primary Care Doncaster, which leads me onto the topic of location.
Thoughts are very much that the location and the model design will be determined by the outcome of the model testing however alongside this we are having conversations with University Centre Doncaster about their plans to become a Centre of Excellence for Health and Social Care training and the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield about their plans for expansion too. More to come on that in future blog issues!
Our project partners will be creating an options appraisal which will outline the potential building designs and associated costs, it will offer us different ideas to meet different budgets with an eye on the Greener NHS agenda, the Digital agenda and aspirations we have for the centre. This along with the evaluation from the testing of the model will provide us with our business case to take forward for funding.
Next time, I’d like to share my exciting work and steps forward on the use of the different technologies available to us and how we intend to try them out… what toys can we play with?!
Liz
