We were so excited when we were asked to submit creative concepts for the new Children’s Ward Graphics at North Middlesex University Hospital . The new Rainbow Ward in Edmonton has undergone a £5.7m transformation and we had the privilege of added the finishing touches. We have worked with this particular NHS Hospital Trust for several years and completed many fantastic projects with them. . We initially met with Harriet Armstrong – our main point of contact, Clare Oliver, the Ward Manager along with the wider project team, who walked us around the site which was already well underway with the major building renovation works. We donned our PPE to see the four HDU rooms; six side rooms; three bays; a staff room; parent room; teen common room; playroom and a handful of corridors.
Each of the 13 rooms with beds had already been painted a colour of the rainbow and our designs were to follow this theme. Our creative approach was to transform each room into a destination. Rather than going to stay in hospital, each child would be going on an adventure. It was important that the designs were not too childish and equally, not too scary for very young children. We wanted to include a diverse range of destinations to encompass different countries, cultures and even some that were out of this world! We developed the followed themes:
The corridors included the Welcome Wall, Nurses Station and four other corridor spaces that travelled around the floor level in a complete circle, returning to the start of the ward. This layout led to the rainbow ribbon concept. The ribbon was split into two sections; night and day. the darker of the two sections, filled with stars was often at the bottom half because this would hide any scuffs and marks from feet, bags and pushchairs. The ‘day’ half of the wall was filled with line drawings of welcoming faces. These outlined faces represented the children, parents and staff on the Rainbow Ward. We were keen to include a variety of backgrounds, ages and styles. We added accent colours from the rainbow into some of the detail such as hats or hair to add even more diversity. As a fun activity for the children on the ward we added a single illustration of a teddy bear to each Rainbow Ribbon wall. Amongst the hundreds of faces, this hidden detail may keep them busy for a little while during their stay.
The Nurses Station is the base for many of the on-shift medical staff. It was also where we wanted to display a comforting statement to reassure new patients related to the Rainbow Ward. The “When it Rains look for Rainbows” refers to the Rainbow Ward being a positive safe-place for people caught in difficult times. “When it’s dark look for stars” refers to the staff being the shining light for both children and parents when they’re frightened or worried. This space was originally a large area behind the front desk and we planned to display all the Ward ‘Stars’ in a ‘meet the team’ style board. However monitors, screens and equipment soon overwhelmed the wall, so our creative team had to rethink the design. More positive statements are repeated around the Rainbow Ward in small speech bubbles. Some messages are targeted at children with positive, encouraging phrases. While others are focussed on the medical teams, reminding them of their importance and how much they are appreciated.
The products we use for our Hospital and Healthcare Graphics adhere to a strict criteria. The self-adhesive vinyl product is A0 fire rated with a specialist antimicrobial laminate to prevent harmful bacteria from living on the surface. The specialist vinyl is ultra-high-tack with incredible strong adhesive. This means it cannot be picked at or removed easily. This can also mean it can be a challenge to apply because our installers cannot reposition once it meets a surface. Full-wall vinyl is manufactured and printed in ‘drops’ like a wallpaper however unlike wallpaper, vinyl will slightly shrink over time and can be affected by temperature. It is for this reason that all vinyl is applied with a small overlap. It stops the vinyl from shrinking and if it does shrink, the overlap will stops the joins from being visible.
Following a return site visit which enabled us to complete final checks on all wall furniture by then in place and any final dimensions needed the project was planned in over a 5 day period with a team of four of our installation operatives plus a project lead. Further to inductions and an initial site walk around to agree final positioning our fitters worked tirelessly over the 5 days to ensure the finish was perfect in preparation for a formal opening planned in a few weeks after our elements were completed. The completed graphics have been extremely well received by both staff and visitors to the Hospital alike and we were fortunate enough to be asked to attend the grand opening which was a wonderful day with patients cutting the ribbon on the official opening.
If you’d like some graphics for your Children’s Ward or other Hospital or Healthcare setting, we’d love to hear from you. We can arrange a site survey of the space and design to your brief.
Call one of our team today on 01332 613 900 or email ideas@mxdisplay.co.uk
CLARE – WARD MANAGER