11 Oct 2022

Gold Coast Health is one of the first health services in Australia to introduce this new model of care. The main reason for the new unit was to divert patients in acute mental health crises away from emergency departments and into a comfortable, therapeutic, and home-like environment to ease their crisis.

Designed by clinicians and people with lived experience, the unit provides a less clinical, more home-like, and therapeutic environment for patients and their families.

Mental health support services

It allows clinicians to work hand-in-hand with lived experience and peer workers to ensure that people experiencing crisis receive the best quality care. An important expansion of mental health support services on the Gold Coast, the Crisis Stabilisation Unit offers 12 chairs and access to eight short-stay beds.

The Galvin Engineering team was brought in due to their extensive experience

The Galvin Engineering team was brought in due to their extensive experience with the complex requirements of a bathroom in mental health they gained working with experts on many projects over the last 50 years. They know about the importance of an environment including fittings that help make a person feel at home and assist with the healing process while at the same time keeping them and everyone else safe.

Crisis stabilisation unit

Their range of specialized products for mental health has been designed to assist in providing a safe living and working environment for patients and caregivers alike while appearing and operating in a normal, home-like look.

All products used for the bathrooms in the crisis stabilization unit are anti-vandal and anti-ligature. This means they have been designed and manufactured for maximum protection against vandalism and with the intention of reducing the risk of ligature attachment to the product minimizing the risk of self-harm and harm to others.

Maximum flow capabilities

Domestic in appearance the Wallgate products are made of solid surface material

And risks can hide in the unlikeliest of places like in a floor drain. Their Safe-Cell® CRR floor drains are designed to minimize self-harm using a technic called the ‘Crocodile Roll’. WMTS 040 approved and AS 3996 Class A compliant their circular style anti-ligature slot grates provide maximum flow capabilities while reducing the ligature risk.

Creating products that effortlessly balance safety and a normalized environment is what their UK partner Wallgate lives and breathes. As the Australasian distributor, they offered their anti-ligature, anti-vandal basin, and toilet pan into the project. Domestic in appearance the Wallgate products are made of solid surface material, manufactured as one piece, highly robust, and warm to the touch.

Safe water management

Due to the lack of joints, the highly polished finish, and the lack of a gel coat layer the products are not only easy to clean but their surface can be renewed with ease if required.

To assist the facility manager in keeping on top of hygiene management for Legionella Control they provided Bluetooth enabled Flowmatic® sensors that seamlessly work with the Wallgate basins. Remotely managing waterflow through an app on a hand-held device without causing interruptions to patient care or the need to remove sensor panels from walls, while continuously tracking every detail from water usage to the number of activations allows for efficient and safe water management.