Design Council Commissions ekosgen
ekosgen have recently been appointed by the Design Council to evaluate two major projects, which will help both to improve the quality of patient hospital experiences, and to strengthen the competitiveness of the UK’s healthcare design and manufacturing sectors. The first of these is Design Bugs Out, an initiative which challenged the UK’s top designers and manufacturers to help control the risk of healthcare associated infections by making hospital furniture and equipment easier and quicker to clean. Through this project, they have now produced a range of prototypes, including a timing device for intravenous lines, providing a visual indicator of how long they have been in use; and a porters’ chair design that is comfortable, easy to clean, and easy to use for staff and patients. All of these designs have now gone to manufacture, and will be in use in hospitals later this year. The second project is Design for Patient Dignity, a competition that aims to improve the dignity of a patient’s hospital experience, by improving the designs of patient gowns, by improving the quality and accessibility of toilet and washroom facilities, by retrofitting older wards with more modern layouts and by developing new transfer and mobility aids. The winning designs from this competition will be unveiled in February and are expected to go to manufacture later in the year. ekosgen will work with the Design Council on both of these studies, to understand the impacts that they have had both on the quality of patient’s hospital experiences, and on the competitiveness of the designers and manufacturers who have been appointed to develop the new range of products.
Sheffield