New state-of-the-art mental health facility at St Ann's hospital

The new state-of-the-art mental health inpatient building delivered by our IHP joint venture at St Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham was hailed as ‘setting the bar high’ at its official opening on the 5th August.

Our team worked throughout lockdown to deliver the building, named Blossom Court, on schedule late last month.

A P22 Healthcare Framework project for Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust, the facility has 74 beds across three acute wards and one Eating Disorder Unit.

Jinjer Kandola, Trust Chief Executive said:

“This is a very significant moment for the Trust and I would like to thank all those who have been involved in helping us to this outstanding achievement. Our old wards were in very poor condition, but we now have some the best, most modern mental health facilities in the country, which will help us transform the care of our patients.

“It’s been inspirational to see everyone pulling together to create this fantastic new building. Blossom Court sets the bar high – this is how all mental health care should look and we are committed to improving the rest of our estate over the coming years, so all our patients can enjoy the quality of environment that Blossom Court now provides.”

Achieving planning consent was challenging as the site is in a conservation area and needed to be built within 4m of a new private residential development because of space restrictions. By working collaboratively with the Trust and planners, and by agreeing a sympathetic design, we were able to obtain planning consent without any delays.

The focus of the building’s design is to encourage services users to spend more time in the communal areas and less in their own bedrooms, to encourage their recovery and wellbeing.

Key aspects of the new building were designed in collaboration with current and former service users and clinical staff, with, for example, sensory rooms introduced, to help patients feel calm and safe.

Sharon Thompson, Clinical Programme Manager added:

“The opening of Blossom Court is a real opportunity to do things differently, so staff and service user involvement has been a big focus throughout the project. We’ve looked at every element of how the unit will operate from clinical treatment to shift patterns, staff skills, activities for patients, and the look and feel of the building itself.”

Room layout and services distribution are designed so that in future the EDU can be easily, and at no cost, converted to an acute ward.

The layout was also configured to provide “swing wards” to accommodate flexibility in male and female service users.