Contour has been supporting a major NHS Mental Health Trust in South London with a rolling programme of radiator guard upgrades across its estate, now spanning over 35 individual projects and three years of continuous partnership.
This Trust delivers the UK’s widest range of mental health services and supports over 1.3 million people. The scale of the estate spans multiple sites including inpatient hospitals, specialist centres, and satellite units.
Following a comprehensive ligature audit, a ligature reduction programme was initiated to address serious risks associated with outdated radiator covers. These included older Contour guards (over 10–15 years old) and products from other manufacturers that no longer met the standards required for high-risk environments as they were outdated, damaged, and unsuitable for the current clinical needs.
Contour was engaged to support upgrades across multiple inpatient environments, from high-risk PICU and CAMHS settings to medium- and lower-risk wards including adolescent, mixed-gender, and Mother and Baby units. Work continues to this day as part of a rolling upgrade framework.
To date, the works have included:
This was primarily a supply and fit service, with full survey, manufacture, delivery and installation carried out by Contour, working around the needs of live wards and vulnerable patients.
The project covered a wide range of wards including:
Each ward had unique safety, operational, and design requirements, with all wards remaining live and fully operational throughout the works.
All works took place in occupied wards. This required:
Many of the wards included guards recessed into alcoves, fitted under window reveals, or close to fixtures such as skirting or pipework. In some cases, bespoke windowsill detailing was required to safely lip over the sill without creating new ligature points.
To ensure minimal disruption, Contour arranged and managed:
Much of the existing infrastructure lacked safe, accessible cleaning access. This caused issues for infection control teams and maintenance staff. Contour’s drop-down hinged door system addressed this directly.
Where possible, Contour provided radiator covers with access to TRV controls in individual patient bedrooms. This gave residents greater autonomy over their environment, while still prioritising anti-ligature protection with robust, tamper-resistant shrouds.
Contour surveyed each space and delivered bespoke solutions to meet both patient safety and estate functionality:
All installations were carried out with minimal disruption to care teams and service users, thanks to Contour’s on-site support, DBS-checked fitters, and collaborative project coordination.
This multi-phase project demonstrates the importance of scalable, adaptable design when upgrading a complex NHS estate. The Trust benefitted from:
Contour continues to support this Trust with new phases of work and ongoing safety upgrades ensuring wards stay safe, secure, and compliant with evolving standards.
Contour’s DeepClean Extra range is designed for high-risk healthcare environments. With drop-down access, anti-ligature shrouds, and bespoke engineering, we’ll help you upgrade your estate one safe, cleanable, futureproof guard at a time.
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