A project to improve wayfinding across The Princess Alexandra Hospital site in Harlow, to help patients and visitors navigate around the wards and departments with greater ease, has reached its final stage this week.
This has been very well received by patients, visitors and people working at the hospital so far since the installations began in March.
Externally there are now clearly visible blue signage for visitor car parks (P2, P3, P4, P7 and P8) which reference the area of the hospital they are nearest to; orange signage for staff car parking areas (P1, P5 and P6); grey signage for delivery points, drop-off points and external buildings; with signage for the emergency department (ED) and same day emergency care (SDEC) continuing to be red.
The interior of the main building has been divided into three colour zones: pink, blue and green, with signage that displays which colour zone the various wards and departments are in; so that patients and visitors can ensure they are in the right zone for the area they need to reach.
Stuart Gordon, strategic head of facilities and property services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), said: “Feedback from our patients and visitors was that signage needed to be improved across the site, especially for those who were unfamiliar with the hospital; such as on their first visit, or they had not been here in a while.
“We hope that our new car park signage makes it easier for visitors to identify the nearest car park to where they want to go; and that the colour zones inside the main building will give reassurance that people are in the right area for the department or ward they want to visit and how to get to the zone they need to find. “
Michael Meredith, director of strategy at PAHT said: “This project had one main aim, to improve signage across our hospital site to help our patients and visitors to get to where they need to go as quickly and easily as possible.
“The development of the new colour code scheme has not only given our old signage a much-needed face lift; but gives our patients and visitors much clearer directions to where they need to be and how to get there.
“The team have worked really hard on this project and initial feedback indicates that it is being very well-received by patients, visitors and our people alike.”
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