Millimetres Matter

Designing and constructing in the mental health environment carries a duty of care, where every detail is critical to assure a safe, secure and therapeutic environment for service users and staff.

Quite literally, the ‘millimetres matter’ in terms of the products/materials selected, their installation, and rigorous testing to ensure patient wellbeing.

Achieving well-designed and meticulously finished spaces is a collaborative endeavour; from listening to insights of service users and staff, to educating subcontract partners supplying and installing products, achieving best practice requires a fully-informed approach, with aligned objectives and a clear understanding of expectations for all involved.

As a collaborative team, we can then challenge the way mental health buildings are planned and designed, moving from a surveillance-led model, to an integrated approach that takes account of patient wellbeing, while managing the complex needs of mental health facilities. 

Recognising this challenge, Galliford Try’s Healthcare team has developed the Millimetres Matter Standard, providing a consistent best-practice approach to the design and construction of our mental health schemes to achieve optimised, right first time, defect-free solutions.

The Standard provides a framework for creating joint-ownership of the approach with our healthcare clients, establishing the protocols, informing and maintaining awareness of responsibilities, and ensuring quality of workmanship to ensure best practice is maintained every step of the way. The tool is proving extremely valuable in creating a joint approach in reviewing and achieving an exceptional level of quality.

With a growing portfolio of mental health design and construction schemes, lessons learned and best practice is informing our approach. Putting the Standard into action, Millimetres Matter was first established following our delivery of Fitzroy House, the largest CAMHS unit in Europe, and has been further developed in collaboration on a project with the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust.

This scheme saw refurbishment and extension of the Stonebow Unit at Hereford Hospital, as part of the national Eliminating Dormitories Project to eradicate dormitory-style accommodation from mental health facilities across the country.

Medical director Dr John Devapriam said, “All aspects of the ward have been designed to maximise the therapeutic outcomes for our patients. Together with the specialist care provided by our teams, this will support our patients to reach their recovery goals quicker and reduce their length of stay in hospital.”

Millimetres Matter is now being implemented at our new build Silverwood Hospital scheme in Chertsey. Martha McSweeney, Galliford Try’s Healthcare Architect, is leading the implementation working with Lawrence Wilson, Project Lead in and collaboration with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

This has included an initial presentation to all personnel and subcontract partners about the Standard, emphasising why millimetres matter, and joint engagement meetings including Trust personnel to ensure designs developed and the construction approach is focused on right-first-time solutions.

The Trust has also provided their anti-ligature training course for project personnel to understand their approach. At design phase, the Standard has informed product and materials selection, in particular anti-ligature windows, alarm systems and security doors with bespoke elements tested and approved.

Using the Standard has tightly controlled the design process ensuring robust design change control and quality assessment. Now in the construction stage, we are on track to develop three trial rooms in early 2024, demonstrating the layout, products and materials, and quality of finish for key areas of the facility with the Trust.