North Middlesex University Hospital (part of the North London Partners ICS) is a district general hospital in Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield. The hospital is managed by North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. Their specialist services include HIV, cardiology, blood disorders, diabetes, fertility, sickle cell and thalassaemia. In addition to a full range of cancer diagnosis and treatment services, the Helen Rollason Cancer Support Centre is based on-site and provides services to support cancer patients' wellbeing.
Recognizing the benefits to be gained from virtual consultancy, North Middlesex are targeting 30% of their patient consultations to be carried out virtually. During the early part of 2021, the Facilities and Maintenance teams responsible for the amenities in the Middlesex NHS Trust were researching solutions to allow them to scale up to this number of video calls in a space and capital efficient way. After discovering the Spacestor Healthcare 'Consult' range of video consulting pods, they reached out to our team to further discuss which might be the best solution for their needs.
Working with the facilities team, we created several different design ideas and iterations to explore the possible options. As they needed nine different pods, it was clear that the Consult Flex would be the most suited to their needs. Using a flexible kit of parts, Consult Flex allows for wall sharing between pods rather than having to butt them up next to each other and waste valuable floor space. Several other features including large internal dimensions, easy integration of screens and power, excellent acoustics with a patent-pending acoustic seal and sustainable materials were key elements that the Consult Flex provided them with.
A vital part of the implementation of their 30% goal, Spacestor Healthcare were privileged to play an important part in the supply and install of these consultation pods. These gave the teams an extremely space efficient solution in which to carry these out, over against the size of a traditional clinical room, which is required for face-to-face consultations.
As these pods are located in a public area of the hospital, creating privacy and protecting confidentiality was key. By providing film on the glass, we could ensure that patient privacy was protected whilst still allowing natural light into the pod. Middlesex also asked us to install Salto handles, with a battery operated RFID mechanism, which means that access was able to be limited to those who had the correct access entry cards, ensuring the necessary levels of security and confidentiality were maintained.
Finally, to ensure that these pods were accessible to anyone who needed to use them, North Middlesex opted to have the door at the end of the booth, to allow wheelchair users to wheel straight in, without having to turn once inside. The door width of over 800mm also means that these are DDA compliant, ensuring an easy and equal experience for all.
