Airline-style pods for hospitals of the future

Ideas that prioritise patient and staff well-being could be built into upcoming health facilities, says Javid

First-class airline-style pods in A&E, remote lighting controls for patients, and micro-gardens between wards are among “innovative” proposals that will inform the design of new hospitals, Sajid Javid has said. The Health Secretary today unveils the five shortlisted ideas pitched for the Wolfson Economics Prize, which is worth £250,000 and is the second biggest economics cash prize in the world. The theme for 2021 has been improving the design of new hospitals.

FIRST class airline-style pods in A&E, remote lighting controls for patients, and micro-gardens between wards are among “innovative” proposals that will inform the design of new hospitals, Sajid Javid has said.

The Health Secretary today unveils the five shortlisted ideas pitched for the Wolfson Economics Prize, which is worth £250,000 and is the second biggest economics cash prize in the world.

While in previous years the award has aimed to stimulate outside-the-box policy solutions for road building, garden cities and currency unions, in 2021 its theme has been improving the design of new hospitals.

Mr Javid said the clever suggestions could be incorporated into the 48 new hospitals that the Government has pledged to build by 2030, under a £3.7 billion investment plan.

One of the short-listed proposals centres on slashing crowding in A&E departments. It outlines plans for streamlined first-class, airline-style pods for patients with less serious conditions, which it estimated could boost capacity by three times.

Co-authored by Dr Susan Robinson, a consultant in emergency medicine at Cambridge University Hospitals, it also suggests offering patients control over lighting and easy access to mobile phone chargers. An automated parking tower for patients who arrive by car and private rooms for patients with separate entrances for staff and visitors, which could help boost flow, are other elements of the package.

Another proposal sketches out ideas for a “green” hospital, including an inhouse marketplace of local produce, as well as an urban farm and staff bar on the roof. It suggests installing “pocket gardens” between wards, boosting the amount of natural light in wards, and appointing a “host” to each ward to look after patients and visitors.

A third finalist entry calls for the creation of starfish-shaped hospitals, which would divide up five core hospital activities – A&E, diagnostics, operating theatres, intensive care units and laboratories – into each “ray” of the fivepronged buildings.

Location lies at the heart of another shortlisted entry, which suggests building smaller and more “convivial” hospitals in English towns that better integrate health and social care.

Under the proposal, GPS would be brought on site to create a single “unified clinical faculty”, while the convenient location would abolish the need for out-of-town car journeys, reducing hospitals’ carbon footprint.

The fifth finalist sketched out a design for a holistic well-being hospital that overhauls bland and sterile design, while incorporating new key performance indicators such as self-reported patient well-being, self-reported happiness of hospital staff, self-reported happiness of hospital visitors.

All the shortlisted proposals shared a focus on humanising hospitals for patients, staff and visitors. The prize comes amid soaring NHS waiting lists, with 92 per cent of NHS trusts reporting concerns about staff well-being, stress and burnout following the pandemic.

The finalists were selected from almost 100 entries submitted by NHS trusts architects, planners, clinicians and patients. They are awarded £10,000 to develop more comprehensive proposals, which will be judged in the autumn, before the winner is announced later this year.

Mr Javid said: “All our new hospitals will prioritise sustainability, digital technology and the latest construction methods, delivering state-of-the-art facilities for patients while maximising value for taxpayers’ money. This year’s Wolfson shortlist is packed full of innovative ideas to help inform these plans.”