In 2006, Bedminster Family Practice moved from its premises in a Victorian house to a newly-built surgery incorporating art. They took this opportunity to collect data on the effects of the primary care environment on their 9,200 patients.

Practice partner Dr Gillian Rice had a longterm interest in the enhancement of care environments through the arts and was committed to making artworks integral to the new surgery. A series of site-specific artworks were commissioned for the new build to create an uplifting, inspiring interior.

The effects of the physical environment of the new facility on patients and staff were recorded in ‘Enhancing a primary care environment: a case study of effects on patients and staff in a single general practice’.

The study shows that an enhanced healthcare environment is associated with:

• improvements in patients' perception of patient-doctor communication
• reduction in anxiety
• increases in patient and staff satisfaction.

These findings were published in 2008 in the British Journal of General Practice.

• Read the full study

Work with Paintings in Hospitals to introduce art into your healthcare or social care spaces...