The new Jubilee Building will enable the highest standards of treatment in an environment that improves their privacy and dignity as well as helping them to recover more quickly. The Jubilee building has been specifically designed with all single rooms so that patients have improved privacy and dignity, infection control is easier to manage, there is no concern about mixed sex accommodation and patients are cared for in a setting that allows them to rest better and recover more quickly.

The building provides 112 state-of-the-art single bedrooms with en-suite rooms that will allow patients to be treated with improved dignity and care, in a safe, attractive and calm healing environment over which they will have some control. The new ward environment will allow the following improvements to patient care:

• Safety will be improved by clearer communication between clinical staff and patients that will help reduce medication errors and improve patient’s understanding of treatment plans and recovery goals.
• Overhead hoisting in 50% of rooms allowing vulnerable patients to be lifted safely and help prevent lifting injuries to staff.

Patient well-being will be improved by patients having greater control of their own bedroom environment including heating, lighting, and privacy. Single bedrooms minimise noise from emergency admissions at night avoid disruption to patient sleep and recovery. Patients will have better views out of their bedroom windows and the benefit of more natural daylight. The single bedrooms has sufficient space to allow for family presence and if necessary relatives will be able to stay overnight on a camp bed.

The Jubilee Building wards provide an improved working environment for staff with better facilities to observe and care for patients, improved staff facilities and improved building, which is expected to improve job satisfaction and aid recruitment and retention and deliver the following benefits.

Less time will be spent by staff searching for equipment and consumables because of the decentralised layout of the ward allowing more time for direct patient care. Many of the same design features that allow better views and access to natural light that benefit patients will also improve the working environment for staff.

Single bedrooms will help avoid the problems of maintaining single sex wards and help with more efficient bed management as patients are less likely to need to be moved to other parts of the hospital and the risk of infections such as norovirus spreading minimised.

This new facility will create space on the hospital site for future developments:

• The 3 storey Jubilee Building uses less space on the hospital site and it s good connection with the other clinical facilities via the Concourse will facilitate the future redevelopment.
• It allows the demolition of the Old Building wards , and the reinstatement of lost surface car parking for patients and visitors.
• The improved use of the site will the allow the creation of more usable external space and help ‘bring the park back into Musgrove Park’. The provision of a substantial courtyard space will add to the calming environment for the patients of the Jubilee Building.