When we were working on NHS Nightingale North West at the Manchester Central Convention Centre during the pandemic, it was a dry hire so we started with an empty space. Our entire focus was the clinical areas – the ‘Red Zone’ – then we had a series of offices where our operational team would sit.

Those office spaces were very functional, full of basic furniture. It was uncomfortable to be sat at a desk all day and end up with back ache because it was so rigid – it was uninspiring. Our break spaces for our colleagues were not any better, very basic and minimal, as we were in an extraordinary moment where patient care was our focus.

We unapologetically decided that for all of our colleagues, we were going to try and create the best spaces we could to look after our workforce.

I can’t talk enough about the importance of breakout spaces and break rooms, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of your workforce. So I wrote a speculative proposal to one of our big retailers, essentially explaining what we already had, laying out the kinds of spaces we wanted to create and asking if there was anything they could do to help with any of it.

To my surprise, they offered to do all of it. I think it was partly because we were in a time where there was so much support for the NHS, but it was also offered on the basis that as and when the Nightingale facility was decommissioned, that we would redistribute the items across our health and care system to create a greater social impact. That social value aspect was really important for them, as it was for us.

They kindly gave us what I suspect was tens of thousands of pounds of furniture, rugs, cushions, lighting, really comfy seating that people could sit on during their breaks, coffee tables – everything we could possibly need to create these incredible spaces.

Two key things happened – first, because we were located in such a large empty space, we weren’t only able to create a small breakout space, we were able to create five big spaces, across all different areas. Importantly, everyone was able to use every one of these spaces, whilst adhering to social distancing guidance, regardless of whether they were clinical staff or administration staff. The way that these spaces were shared was really important, as was how people connected with each other, as well as the visual messaging and wayfinding across the site.

The second was the fact that people who were really tired, people who were, at that point delivering care in full PPE (personal protective equipment) felt so looked after. It was an overwhelming feeling at times because all I’d done was ask. And what I was so much more than great furniture. The message it sent and the impact that it had on people was really amazing.

When the facility was being stood down and decommissioned in phases, we worked with colleagues to decide what happened to everything afterwards. We knew that one of the social impacts of the pandemic was that there was an increased number of women leaving domestic violence situations, and weren’t able to take anything with them. And so we reached out to local care organisations and domestic violence charities., as they were seeing women turning up to safe houses or women’s refuge facilities, possibly with their children, with no furniture, no clothing, no nappies – whatever it might be – and we were able to work with some of these facilities and the committed volunteers who run them to help people to start again. We did the same with a couple of homelessness charities, and social care settings as well. Social value was woven through the entire project – and even when we are still adhering to social distancing, we knew this all made a difference for people.

The pandemic offered a moment in time where we were able to do things differently and allowed us to take a more holistic view. That learning helped prepare for the planning of the vaccination programmes that we then went to deliver across our communities. We had key facilities that were set up, and some were, for example, community pharmacies, where retail items were being stowed away to make room for waiting areas or discreet vaccination areas. We were seeing things like pods being used more frequently to offer those multi-use, flexible spaces.

The modular aspect of those projects is really important, so it’s thinking more about flexibility – being able to reconfigure big spaces, small spaces, confidential spaces, but then also have the ability to cohere people in different ways, as well as being able to modify older buildings in a way that makes sense for modern usage.

There are lots of lessons we can take from how we approached projects at that time that can and are helping us to look differently at how we can not only better design healthcare spaces, but adapt the infrastructure that we already have to improve the experience for both patients and our health and care workforce.”

– Sheni Ravji-Smith, Assistant Director of Organisational Development and Good Employment at NHS Greater Manchester