CW+ wins Building Better Healthcare award with Royal British Society of Sculptors
10 November 2017
Hospital charity CW+ are delighted to have been awarded Best Collaborative Arts Project (Static) at the prestigious 2017 Building Better Healthcare Awards for ‘The Dispensary’.
Hospital charity CW+ are delighted to have been awarded Best Collaborative Arts Project (Static) at the prestigious 2017 Building Better Healthcare Awards for ‘The Dispensary’.
The Dispensary is a multi-faceted interactive sculpture designed to engage and stimulate patients living with dementia at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. The piece was created in partnership with the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the winner of the 2015 FIRST@108 Public Art Award, Tabatha Andrews MRBS. This award was generously supported by the Mirisch & Lebenheim Charitable Foundation.
Tabatha Andrews was heavily influenced by the time she spent with patients during bedside and group workshops, resulting in a collection of personal memories that are waiting to be explored. The sculpture has been specially designed for people with dementia, in particular those who are very anxious and agitated, providing them with something to interact with and to also stimulate them when they are restless.
The sculpture is a double-sided cabinet containing an array of interactive wooden objects such as musical boxes, and old postcards. All the objects have been specifically designed to evoke memory, interaction and conversation between patients and staff. The sculpture is on wheels so it is able to be moved around the ward and patient’s bedsides.
Trystan Hawkins, Director of Patient Environment at CW+ says: “We are delighted to have won this award. Working in partnership with such an esteemed organisation as the Royal British Society of Sculptors was an honour and we were really thrilled with the finished artwork. Staff have fed back to us that patients have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with all the different objects within the sculpture and it has had a positive impact on helping patients with conversation, reminiscence and relieving anxiety.”
The annual Building Better Healthcare Awards celebrate innovation and improvement in the built environment, medical devices and people working in the healthcare industry. This year’s awards took place on Wednesday 1 November and the evening was attended by over 600 industry professionals.
This project was part of CW+’s extensive programme to improve the patient experience and environment in hospital.