Take up the challenge
NHS Halton and St Helens is looking to commission permanent public artwork for the new Castlefields Health Centre in Runcorn. Due to open next spring, the facility will provide a new home for the Castlefields GP Practice, together with a range of community health and wellbeing services. Spanning almost 2,000sq m and delivered under the NHS LIFT programme, the building is currently being fitted out and project managers want to ensure the interior is inviting for patients, staff and other visitors. As a result, they have launched a competition to commission artwork for a variety of locations. The works will need to be wall-mounted, light-based or projected; must help to alleviate anxiety; and should link to local history or the local environment. The budget for the work is £10,000
Photo competition launched
A PHOTOGRAPHIC competition has been launched to brighten up a new area at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. Work started on a £4.4m scheme to redevelop the oncology haematology and rheumatology wards in June. And, with the first phase almost complete, members of the public are being asked to help improve the interior. Project manager, Heidi Metcalf, said “We want photographs of the local area to make the place bright, warm and less clinical. The best pictures entered will be displayed on the walls, and there is an overall prize to have the picture put onto acrylic or canvas for the winner’s home. It’s an exciting project to transform the care we offer to our patients, and these photographs will help to ensure the area is extremely patient-friendly.” The competition is open for the whole of October and the winner and runners-up will be announced once the new unit opens later this year. The photographs will also be displayed in the new unit.
Old and new
PETERBOROUGH and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has unveiled its new art display entitled The Old Inside The New. The display by artists Natasha Carsberg and Lisa Temple-Cox was funded by a grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and includes local people’s histories, experiences and memories of healthcare in Peterborough. The two artists worked with local people, patients, visitors and staff over a three-month period to collate their memories, interesting stories and experiences of the changing healthcare in the city and transformed them into an imaginative display which includes bedpans, nurses’ uniforms and medical boxes. The display also includes memories from the Infirmary (now Peterborough Museum), the Memorial Hospital, Thorpe Hall Maternity Hospital, Peterborough District Hospital and the Edith Cavell Hospital. Temple-Cox said: “The memories from all age groups were very down-to-earth and touching, which enabled us to understand first-hand the personal history of healthcare experiences in the city. We were able to evolve our design ideas in response to this.” The celebratory art work is now being permanently displayed outside the outpatients department at Peterborough City Hospital.
Get down and arty
THE Heart of England Foundation Trust is looking for creative locals to get involved in activities such as arts, craft, poetry and reminiscence sessions for patients. The workshops on the wards and departments in Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals, give patients the chance to spend time creating in a bid to improve their mobility and communication and lead to a faster and more effective recovery. Arts co-ordinator, Sarah McGrory, said: “Patients really look forward to these sessions, particularly those who either come into hospital regularly or have to spend long periods of time here. We have found that patients love to get involved and it really does brighten up their day by taking their minds off why they are in hospital. It is a chance to spend some time with a friendly face who isn’t a doctor or nurse. The increased communication and activity also benefits their rehabilitation and helps patients along their way to getting better. We are looking to expand the service so that we can hold the arts and crafts sessions on all wards or departments.”
Sisters show off their talents
PATIENTS visiting the Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre in Tayside will be able to view a new exhibition of artwork and embroidery created by local sisters, Olive Thomson and Hazel McKenzie Milne. A total of 29 watercolours and intimate embroideries are on show as part of an ongoing arts schedule that has been running at the centre since 2005. The exhibition will last for eight weeks and 20% of all sales will go towards improvements to the Whitehills environment for patients, staff and visitors.