The waiting room at Keswick’s only doctors’ surgery has undergone a hi-tech revamp to help patients and staff stay safe post-lockdown.
Special fabrics and vinyls have been used by design and furniture experts in reshaping Castlehead Medical Centre, off Ambleside Road, to fit in with its sanitisation programme.
The easy-to-clean furniture will help combat any spread of coronavirus at the busy medical centre where the work has been carried out by Ghyll House Upholstery and Design, based at Mealsgate, near Wigton.
Practice manager Catherine Penrice said: “We had been wanting to do it for a while, so while it was quiet during lockdown and people weren’t coming in, we thought ‘let’s crack on and do the work’.
“Joe McAlpine at Ghyll House has been brilliant. They have done an excellent job, taking all the seating away and recovering it and refitting it. There was some material left over so they even recovered some free-standing chairs as well. It all looks really good. They have been great to deal with.”
The centre is one of seven GP practices in the Keswick and Solway Primary Care Network.
Catherine, who is operations manager for the network, said the work at Keswick had gone so well that similar redesigns of patient areas at centres in Silloth and Kirkbride were being carried out on her recommendation.
Joe, general manager at Ghyll House, said: “At Castlehead, we took out the fixed seating, replaced the cloth with an antimicrobial material which is easy to clean, and refitted it all again.
“We are finding a lot of businesses, whether that’s doctors’ surgeries, hair salons, gyms or restaurants — anywhere where the general public is going post lockdown — are requiring these types of changes to be made.
“We are happy to work to their brief, which might be recovering furniture with these antimicrobial materials, replacing furniture or redesigning their spaces with social distancing in mind.
“We know that finances are going to be an issue for many of these businesses who are faced with redesigns at a time when they have been hit hard by the economic impact of coronavirus.”
