The Reducing violence and aggression in A&E programme commissioned a consortium led by multidisciplinary design studio PearsonLloyd to develop solutions to improve the A&E experience
PearsonLloyd
A multi-award winning London-based design studio whose expertise lies in offering design knowledge and strategic thinking to industries that have demanding spatial, ergonomic and social needs, such as healthcare, aviation, the workplace and the public realm. Founded in 1997, the studio helps organisations to make strategic changes within these areas by exploring the relationships between people and the complex built environments which they inhabit.
PearsonLloyd’s work on Reducing violence and aggression in A&E was led by design director Tom Lloyd. To deliver the project successfully, the studio needed to use evidence-based knowledge to develop strategic concepts. These had to be delivered through specialist knowledge of human factors, environments, violence and aggression, and the healthcare industry. With this in mind, PearsonLloyd decided to form a consortium for their design challenge team, which comprised the following people and institutions:
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, based at the Royal College of Art, London
The Helen Hamlyn Centre is an expert in people-centred research and design. Its Health & Patient Safety team focuses on creating safer and smarter healthcare products and services, and the team has developed its own evidence-based and usercentred methodology.
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
The Tavistock Consultancy Service is a well established arm of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and was brought on board to understand the psychological aspects of individual, group and organisational dynamics in A&E. Julian Lousada, a senior consultant, provided his expertise for the project.
University of the West of England’s Centre for Health and Clinical Research
Professor Jonathan Benger and Dr Sarah Voss of the University of the West of England’s Centre for Health and Clinical Research provided a clinical perspective. Professor Jonathan Benger, an expert in emergency care, chairs the Clinical Effectiveness Committee of the College of Emergency Medicine and has experience of addressing violence and alcohol problems in A&E, whilst Dr Sarah Voss has experience of conducting healthcare research focusing on user perspectives and expectations.
University of Bath School of Management
Dr Nigel Caldwell and Dr Alistair Brandon-Jones of the University of Bath School of Management, were brought on board to provide expertise relating to service
design, operations and supply management. They were able to advise on the efficacy of the design concepts in terms of A&E as a service system, and how operational
measures, incentives and performance measures support (or hinder) design at the system level.
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations
A key part of the project was to establish how successful any solutions were, and to quantify the impact the designs had upon aggression and violence. This expertise came from The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. Principal consultant Frances Abraham and researcher and consultant Olivia Joyner provided expertise and guidance in how the design solutions could best be evaluated.