This recent HCN lecture focused on how the NHS is increasingly prioritising the emotional wellbeing of patients, and how we, as architects, can help by introducing more interactive visiting patterns, facilitating the relationships between patients and visitors, as well as reducing anxiety in these spaces.

What patients request the most are visits and psychological support. Therefore, designing spaces that can be enjoyed by both patients and visitors (not necessarily only communal) will result in a more liveable environment. We should therefore start challenging the standard idea of “waiting rooms as the only opportunities for social interaction”. Instead, these could be emotional spaces that can be linked to create a pleasant journey.

Hospitals are places where people go to recover – they should feel good.