Silverwood: A Safer Space, A Brighter Future
When Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust began planning Silverwood, their newest mental health facility, they saw an opportunity to create more than just a building. They saw a chance to improve safety, build in independence, and shape a calmer environment where people could begin their recovery with dignity.
Care provider:
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust
Project type:
New build
Mental Health discipline:
Adult psychiatric inpatient facility
Products installed:
The Challenge: Balancing Safety, Dignity, and Day-to-Day Functionality
After seeing the life-saving impact of our full-door ligature alarm elsewhere in the Trust, Surrey and Borders brought it to Silverwood. Paired with our digital dashboard, response times dropped from 77 seconds to just 25, turning data into faster intervention and better training.
Working with clinical and estates teams, we delivered 200+ tailored doorsets, combining safety, privacy, and ease of use. Each design supported the Trust’s wider goals: empowering service users, improving sustainability, and simplifying access control.
Silverwood, Surrey and Borders needed a solution that addressed a wide range of requirements:
- Reducing risk in a high-acuity environment without restricting service user independence.
- Supporting staff to respond quickly to incidents without adding an intrusive layer of surveillance.
- Delivering safety consistently across wards with different service user groups.
- Meeting all fire compliance and NHS safety standards.
- Avoiding unnecessary waste and supporting the Trust’s sustainability objectives.
The Solution: Integrated Safety, Responsive Collaboration
Every detail of Silverwood was developed through co-production, from early-stage planning to final installation. With service user dignity and staff workflows in mind, our solution combined advanced safety features with practical everyday use.
What We Delivered:
- Full Door Ligature Alarm System (second generation): Co-developed with the Trust, this version included open-door sensing, responding to improvement suggestions from people with lived experience and staff.
- Anti-Barricade System: Designed for day-to-day robustness, while allowing staff single-key access in seconds when needed.
- Electronic Locksets: with Paxton Integration: Every bedroom door was fitted with a lockset connected to the Trust’s access control system, allowing service users to lock and unlock their own rooms, while enabling staff access in emergencies.
- Mechanical Locksets: in Communal Bathrooms: Providing a sense of privacy while still allowing emergency override.
- Free Swing Closers: Used in areas where lightweight operation was essential.
- Reuse of 40 Doors from the Previous Facility: Delivering a significant saving and reducing waste.
The Impact: Calmer Environments, Safer Outcomes
Silverwood is already seeing the benefits of this work, both in terms of clinical safety and everyday experience:
- Continued zero suicides on bedroom doors, following on from the success of our ligature detection system since implementation in 2021 65% reduction in staff response time to bedroom door alarms
- Saving £250k by repurposing doors and avoiding unnecessary landfill
- Streamlined access control for staff and greater autonomy for service users
- Improved feedback loops between the Trust’s clinical and property teams
