Client // Teknoglass/LST
Name // University Hospital, Southampton PICU
Type of Build // Existing Hospital Refurbishment
Location // Southampton
Products installed// BGB Integral Blinds
Introduction
The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton’s University Hospital is the lead centre for children’s intensive care in south central England. The unit treats 800 children every year, from birth to 18, with severe life-threatening conditions ranging from serious infections to injuries from major accidents.
Project
The £1.5 million project included a 20 bed open planned unit, complete with five hermetically sealed high dependency bays and two private rooms for the south’s most critically ill children. The new PICU unit was a follow-on development from the rebuild of the main general intensive care ward.
Due to the sensitive environment, patient protection and hygiene were of the utmost importance. Teknoglass medical glazing systems, specifically designed for infection control, were brought in to deal with the challenging requirements, which included patient monitoring and privacy.
BetweenGlassBlinds
Working with Teknoglass, BetweenGlassBlinds supplied the project with both motorised and manual integral blind sets.
For the infection control high dependency bays, motorised blinds with full lifting and tilt operation were installed in bi-parting doors. The blinds are operable from inside and outside the main doors and at the two nurse stations located between adjacent rooms. As well, each of the rooms are separated by wall of ceiling to floor glass panels with the same BGB motorised blind system operated by switches in either room.
Additionally, monitoring of the five infection-controlled rooms is further facilitated by the installation of two nursing stations with fixed panels, one to each of the rooms. These panels incorporate BGB’s integral manual blinds, also providing full lifting operation and tilt control. This enables the monitoring of two rooms from a single vantage point.
Another two private rooms required a different solution for observation, due to layout. In these rooms Teknoglass installed a double swing door fitted with BetweenGlassBlinds integral manual units with the full lift and tilt system. This unobtrusive operation allows easy monitoring and privacy, while ensuring the aesthetic consistency throughout the ward.
BGB Managing Director Mark Nash said, “We are pleased to have been a part of this project where we know the PICU team will be delivering world-class care. Working with Teknoglass to provide the highest level of observation as well as privacy in a situation where infection control is essential, is a challenge we are happy to rise to.”
Photo credits: Teknoglass