Mike Miles
Hope Wall
A&E Mental Health Room
Ground Floor
Section from Mike Miles' 'Hope Wall'
Working closely with ELFT, Tower Hamlets Working Together Group, and RAID; Vital Arts commissioned an artist to create an uplifting design for the A&E mental health room at The Royal London Hospital. Artist Mike Miles was selected by the Service User Group ‘Tower Hamlets Working Together” from amongst several proposed by Vital Arts. Miles has created an artwork featuring foliage, inspiring messages in many languages, and familiar objects that wrap around the room and en-suite. The project features a Hope Wall and has radically transformed the space, as well as the experience of being within it.
Mike Miles developed the concept with Service Users following several sessions working together under the guidance of Rikke Albert, Nurse Consultant at ELFT. The joint and integrated approach to improving a Health Based Place of Safety is a flagship project — the first of its kind within an A&E department in the UK. The Hopewall project won the East London Foundation Trust Chief Executive 2017 Award, and was short-listed for their People’s Participation Ward 2017.
Jane, a service user, who helped design the space, including choosing colours and words on the walls said: “I think it will make a difference to people. When you are in a state of anxiety and desolation, having something to focus your mind on which is inspiring and uplifting will help to feel like things will get better.”
Rikke Albert, Nurse Consultant for East London NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our Hope Wall project acknowledges the vital role environment plays when supporting people in mental distress. Service users were involved in the project from the beginning and were a driving force behind its design and messages. The work not only symbolises hope but shows the impact the can be made when physical and mental health organisations collaborate and work together. The room has gone from a dreary clinical area to a calm, peaceful and comforting place. We hope the transformation shows the importance we place on supporting those struggling with their mental health”.
Catsou Roberts, Director of Arts and Health said “Vital Arts is delighted to have been able deliver this artwork, which has radically changed the experience of using the space. It is a powerful example of the benefits art can bring within a clinical context.”
Alwen Williams, CEO of Barts Health NHS Trust, and Dr. Navina Evans, CEO of ELFT, officially opened the project during the launch on 10 July.
