Safe haven: transforming relatives' rooms

The quality of facilities available for relatives and carers of hospital patients, which is particularly important when distressing news is given, often receives little attention. This article outlines a project undertaken at a Liverpool trust to improve the environment of relatives' rooms. The project adopted an evidence-based, design-led approach and used standard hospital materials and suppliers to refurbish relatives' rooms. Audit and feedback from relatives and staff was used to inform the project, and literature on enhancing the healing environment was used to formulate a trust-wide standard for all relatives' rooms.