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ISSUED:13-May-2004
Access all areas: St George's Hospital wins award for new building
ST GEORGE'S Hospital has won an award for making a new building on its site accessible to people with physical and sensory disabilities.
The hospital's new Atkinson Morley wing, which opened to patients late last year, received a Mayor's Access Award on Tuesday night from the Mayor of Wandsworth, Colin Dawe.
The awards scheme highlight buildings and projects in the borough which have given special consideration to the needs of people with disabilities.
Doreen Rowland, who heads the hospital's access committee, accepted the award on behalf of the trust. She said:
'When the Atkinson Morley wing was being designed we made a conscious effort to make sure the architects created a building that was accessible to people who have a physical or a sensory disability.'
'We are absolutely delighted to have received the award and I would like to say a huge thank you to the Wandsworth Access Committee for nominating us.'
The award was also warmly welcomed by the chairman of the hospital trust, Naaz Coker:
'Public buildings need to be accessible to everyone in the community. But the fact that the Atkinson Morley wing offers specialist healthcare to patients with brain injuries and mobility problems made it even more important for us to make access a priority right from the start.
'The Atkinson Morley wing is a new building. So it was comparatively easy to design it with access in mind. We know that other parts of the hospital site however are not so accessible. We're working very hard to bring those areas up to scratch.'
The Atkinson Morley wing of St George's Hospital, which cost ?50m to build, is a state of the art medical centre that provides specialist surgery and treatment to patients with serious medical problems or injuries to their heart, lungs or brain. The building has over 240 beds, eight operating theatres, and a range of diagnostic equipment and treatment facilities.
The hospital was nominated for the award by the Wandsworth access committee - a voluntary organisation run by local disabled people.
Planning officers from the council and members of the committee highlighted several aspects of the hospital wing as being good practice:
- the use of contrasting paving tiles rather than tactile paving outside the entrance to the Atkinson Morley wing
- the placing of outside seating close to the entrance
- the inclusion of a recessed area in the main reception counter to allow people in wheelchairs to manoeuvre right up to the front desk
- low level light switches
- and raised lettering on lift buttons combined with clear and audible announcements to let passengers know when a floor has been reached.
The Wandsworth Access Association's vice chairwoman, Betty Lewis, explains why the Atkinson Morley wing was chosen for the award:
'The new Atkinson Morley wing of St George's hospital is excellent from the point of view of disabled people. We were all impressed by how suitable it was, particularly the design of the showers and toilets.'
***ENDS***
