Forensic Mental Health Prison In South East England

The Challenges

Those that enter a mental health forensic prison are individuals with a mental disorder who are undergoing - or have previously undergone - legal or court proceedings.

Some individuals at this unit are managed by a forensic mental health service because they’re deemed to be at a high risk of harming others, or themselves.

For this reason, a huge challenge the forensic mental health prison face was the need for an anti-ligature solution to keep all service users safe.

Ligature Risks

It’s commonly thought that suicide risk comes from ligature points that are above head height. However, studies have found that suicides can, unfortunately, occur where ligature points have been below the head or even at waist height.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when individuals seek to self-harm, they don’t look for obvious ligature points, so standard LST radiators could have posed a big risk to these vulnerable individuals.

Control Of Heat

This forensic mental health prison required anti-ligature TRV kits to ensure all individuals had control over their temperature.

Temperature can affect a person’s wellbeing and mental health, and for this reason – everyone is entitled to be in an environment with a comfortable temperature.

Easy Access For Cleaning

Hygiene is necessary for all public environments and it’s particularly important to make these individuals feel comfortable regardless of their mental state.

Not having easy access for cleaning for maintenance means that harmful and dust can build up inside the radiators and therefore, can become a harmful environment for service users.

Anti-Ligature LST Radiators

For safer heating, Contour introduced anti-ligature radiators into this forensic mental health unit. This ensured that the forensic unit was secure, and risks were reduced, providing users with a safe and comfortable environment.

Anti-Ligature TRV Kits

Anti-ligature TRV kits were introduced to ensure all individuals at this forensic mental health prison were comfortable with the temperature that they’re on by being in control.

These TRV kits also had anti-ligature features to ensure there were no risks of self-harm to the individuals.

Cleaning and Maintenance

To carry out access for cleaning and maintenance, a drop-down feature was installed on all guards. This meant cleaning radiator covers could be carried out quickly and properly to diminish bacteria, dirt, and dust build-up.

With this in place, the forensic mental health unit can provide a hygienic environment for all service users.

Results

The forensic mental health prison effectively achieved an anti-ligature heating solution with an overall safer and more comfortable environment.

Anti-ligature TRV kits were supplied, access for cleaning and maintenance was optimised and ligature risks were reduced with anti-ligature radiator covers.

The main priority was the health and safety of all service users and Contour was keen on providing high-quality designs to solve the challenges that this forensic unit had.