Healthy Hospitals: an mKTP with Newham University Hospital and London Metropolitan University
The ‘Healthy Hospitals’ Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership project will embed an urban designer into the hospital management structure at Newham University Hospital and presents an opportunity to utilise spatial thinking, co-design, and change management theories to revitalise the under-utilised green spaces across the site to create an attractive place to come and work. This not only addresses pressing operational challenges, but also creates lasting positive impacts on the hospital’s community and staff.
Newham University Hospital has always struggled to recruit and retain staff. It serves a population of circa 400k residents from the boroughs of Newham and Barking & Dagenham. The population is socio-economically deprived, incredibly diverse (Newham is 73% BAME, Black and Minority Ethnic population), transient and suffers from high levels of ill health. The hospital employs circa 2,700 staff, but approximately one in ten of those roles are covered agency staff or are vacant.
A range of techniques will be utilised to deliver numerous benefits including: the development of an analytical urban design for the site underpinned by co-designed research; embedding an understanding of spatial literacy into the hospital management structures bringing health promotion within the hospital’s operations; and leveraging the non-monetary value of the vast site in Plaistow through staff and community engagement.
