As evidenced through research with our NHS Trust partners in the UK, it is apparent that more can be done to help prevent loss of life within mental health facilities. This, fundamentally, is the reason Kingsway Group exists. It is our purpose to push design in mental health further to achieve this and support clinical staff in improving patient safety.
Doors have long been the most targeted ligature point in mental health facilities, and ongoing innovation is necessary to continue to reduce the risk of service user suicide.
Through extensive research with our NHS Trust partners, we developed our SENTRY Full Door Edge Ligature Alarm System, an assistive technology designed to provide life-saving alerts of ligature attempts to clinical teams. In today’s blog article, we will explore the case for alarmed door systems and the value that they can add for clinical teams and service users.
The case for alarmed doors in mental health facilities
In mental health facilities, over 65% of suicides occur in the patient’s bedroom, with hanging being the most common method. Furthermore, over 90% of in-patient suicides in mental health facilities take place in between intermittent observations (NCHISH, 2016). As it is not feasible or appropriate to place all service users within eyesight observation, the need for assistive technology that can reduce patient risk is greatly apparent.
What is Kingsway’s SENTRY Alarmed Door System?
The SENTRY Full Door Edge Ligature Alarm System is an important innovation in mental healthcare technology that has been developed to support clinical staff in their efforts to reduce the risk of service user suicide.
To help staff reduce this risk, the SENTRY Full Door Edge Ligature Alarm System maximises the risk-reducing capabilities of our leading Anti-Ligature and Anti-Barricade complete door systems by monitoring and alerting staff to ligatures placed against any of the door edges.
SENTRY helps to provide staff with heightened awareness of patient activity on wards and the ability to rapidly respond to ligature attempts to by alerting staff to such events.
What makes SENTRY different?
Insights and understandings gained from discussions with our partners help shape the products that we create as we look to provide solutions to the problems faced within mental healthcare environments.
No exception to this process, SENTRY was developed to meet the requirements of our partners across a great range of circumstances, leading to it being the most versatile alarmed door solution for mental health environments and the UK’s first full door edge ligature alarmed door system.
Versatility
The Kingsway SENTRY Full Door Edge Ligature Alarm System maximises the risk-reducing capabilities of our leading Anti-Ligature and Anti-Barricade SWING and SWITCH complete door systems, along with our STOW and SOLO complete door systems, offering a flexibility in alarmed door solutions that is unique to Kingsway.
By integrating with these four individual door systems, SENTRY is able to deliver the correct alarmed door solution for a range of requirements, including for en-suite areas to provide optimal service user privacy and safety.
Hardwired and robust
Ensuring the greatest degree of reliability possible is crucial for anything that forms part of a life-critical system, and a system like SENTRY needs to deliver the same degree of certainty in its performance. To achieve this, we ensured that SENTRY be hardwired to deliver greater reliability over wireless or battery powered alternatives. In the event of power outages an emergency backup battery will provide power for a minimum of four hours.
Easy installation
Like all Kingsway complete door systems, SENTRY arrives on site factory-fitted, tested, and pre-hung for simple installation. Without the need for any modification of the existing floor construction, installation of SENTRY is smooth and efficient, making it ideal for either new build or refurbishment projects. To make the process easier, on-site installation can be provided by Kingsway where required, carried out by our highly trained installation team considerate to ever-changing ward conditions.
Integration with our KOSMOS Smart Monitoring System
Through ongoing research with our partners, the possibility was identified to further enhance the support we offer to clinical teams by harnessing the latest technology available.
Our KOSMOS Smart Monitoring System has been developed to allow clinical teams to fully monitor ligature alarms across wards and record an audit trail of service user activity and staff observations for later review. SENTRY integrates seamlessly with KOSMOS, and when combined together offer increased visibility of activity and trends across wards and provide valuable data that can help management teams shape ward observation planning.
With safety at its core and with extensive versatility, SENTRY is able to deliver the perfect alarmed door solution for any location within the ward environment and its potential to help staff prevent loss of life by alerting to life-threatening incidents is invaluable.
To find out more about how an alarmed door can help your facility, or to book a demonstration of SENTRY, please reach out to us here.