Morley Glass and Glazing have completed a £500,000 integral blinds contract for Belfast City Hospital which has helped to transform the hospital and elevate its efficiency. This article shall explain the positive difference that these blinds have made to the hospital in the two years since they were installed.
What Did the Project Involve?
Morley Glass and Glazing completed a project to supply integral blinds at Belfast City’s Acute Mental Health inpatient unit which saw the SL20 MB system being deployed exclusively for this project. This consisted of two key operating systems offering a control system exclusively for patients to control from within their room and a control system for medical staff to operate externally. Morley Glass and Glazing recognised that allowing patients partial ability to control their blinds would assist in their recovery and take pressure off nurses having to solely control every patient’s blinds.
Safe Benefits of Integral Blinds
One of the most important benefits the integral blinds have brought to Belfast City hospital has been their safety element. As the blinds are positioned with a double glazing unit they are protected from getting damaged which therefore means that patients cannot get access to the actual blinds, therefore, minimising an opportunity to self-harm. The different control options such as through solar controlled batteries operated via remote control have provided peace of mind for healthcare professionals as they are assured that blinds will not become a potential hazard for their patients during their course of recovery thanks to cordless control.
Hygiene Benefits
Integral blinds have provided a hygienic solution over other blinds to Belfast City Hospital in its quest to maintain a sterile environment. Integral blinds in particular do not gather any dust or dirt due to the integral blind slats, header and footer rails being permanently fitted within the glass unit. As the blind is not exposed to the outside air this means that they will not transmit germs or viruses which is essential within a hospital environment. Therefore, Belfast City hospital has benefitted as they have not had to instruct cleaners to clean the blinds which in turn has saved both time and money. The only maintenance that they may require is a wipe-over of the control device which is typically a plastic knob.
Cost Savings
Morley Glass and Glazing managed to assist the hospital to save thousands of pounds by using Morley’s Uni-blind sealed units with warm edge spacer bars as opposed to the originally specified units with a ceramic frit to cover space bars. This helped the hospital to make massive savings in the initial cost of installing the blinds and it will continue to help the hospital make future savings as integral blinds are a long term investment and boast a long life span. As integral blinds are encapsulated within the glass they are protected from being touched, cleaned or damaged by users which therefore means they do not need to be replaced in the way that curtains would.
