The Inspire mental health inpatient unit located on Walker Street in Hull has been nominated for three awards at this year’s Design in Mental Health Awards.
Inspire formally opened to patients in January 2020, and is a part of the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) within Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust.
The categories the team has been nominated for are Service User Engagement, Project of the Year New Build, and Clinical Team.
This is an extraordinary achievement and a brilliant recognition of the continuous hard work done by all Inspire team members over the last year and a half.
The building of Inspire represents a major achievement for the Trust, bringing together a vast array of skills and experience from across the patch, to create a much needed resource for young people in the local area.
The opening of Inspire has meant that local young people are less likely to be placed out of area for mental health treatment and are therefore able to stay close to their families for additional support.
Michele Moran, Chief Executive at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is great to see that Inspire has been recognised for its innovative design, which was achieved through co-production between our young people, staff and the architects.
Opening Inspire was a vital milestone for young people and their families across Hull, the East Riding and North and North East Lincolnshire. Inspire has brought CAMHS inpatient services back into the region, ensuring there is easy access to help for young people experiencing acute distress and supporting families who have been travelling long distances to visit their loved ones.”
Before opening, the service worked very closely with young people and families to design a clinical environment that supports the team to deliver an innovative, trauma-informed model, which incorporates up-to-date patient safety design features, and further ensures the team are able to offer a unique inpatient experience for young people.
In the last year, the Trust has received a number of positive statements and feedback from young people, who recognise the positive benefits of the environment, stating that it “feels safe”.
Paul Warwick, Modern Matron at Inspire, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is fantastic to see our service be shortlisted for this year’s Design in Mental Health Awards. This is great recognition for our team’s efforts and something we are very proud of.
The young people at Inspire have had an ongoing positive effect on the building since opening, influencing furniture design and signage, and how our spaces are used. While we see the impact of this every day, it is brilliant to see that the young people’s skills have also been recognised by the architects who designed the building, and now the awards panel as well.”
The architects, who designed the building with our young people’s feedback in the initial stages of development, have since asked the young people to support them in designing a new futuristic bedroom.
This work is ongoing and the final result will be on display at the Design in Mental Health Conference in August.
You can view all of the Design in Mental Health Award categories and shortlists here.