From the Outside in – Navigating the Hospital 2005

This was a collaborative commission with poet John Davies (aka ‘Shedman’) at Eastbourne General Hospital and The Conquest Hospital Hastings. The research and artistic outcomes provided findings for an Environmental Strategy for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which is being developed by Arts in Healthcare in partnership with the Trust Estates Department. It is hoped that in the future artists and designers will be regularly involved at the early stages of environmental planning for refurbishment and new build schemes.

We were asked to examine the physical, psychological and emotional responses of patients and staff to the issues of navigation around the sites, with a focus on arrival, waiting and departure. The brief required us to navigate the sites, observe activity, interact with staff and patients and to reflect on, and suggest creative solutions to, the issues and problems encountered. We created a ‘headquarters’ in a garden shed erected in the main entrances of Eastbourne and Conquest Hospitals. From these vantage points, visitors, staff and patients were invited to share their experiences and ideas for improvement.

We gave an initial presentation about the work to staff from outpatient areas. The subsequent outcome of the research was an exhibit of the visual and written material collated by the artists, and were shown at both hospitals. These were displayed as light boxes and digital prints. The wider public consisting of staff, patients and visitors were invited to comment on the artists’ responses by completing forms that were available in hard copy and through the staff intranet. Staff were kept informed of the project, where to see the exhibition and how to communicate their views, through articles in ‘Connect’ and on the Trust’s intranet. The public were kept informed through posters in public waiting areas, and by the volunteer staff who welcome visitors.