Designed for everyone How Cinderford Medical Centre became a trailblazer for inclusive design

Cinderford is a historic mining town which got its name from the iron ore which was once mined and smelted in the area. It may only be home to around 8,500 people, but today it is a thriving tourist spot and boasts one of the oldest and most beautiful cinemas in Britain.

Cinderford’s GP practices were working from two out-of-date buildings, which gave them challenges for expanding their services.

Among them was the need to support local patients with dementia: the town has a high number of people living with the condition, and the teams wanted to be able to provide them with the very best care.

As part of our work to create a brand new health space for the town, we launched a project to make it the country’s first standalone dementia-friendly primary care centre.

What quickly became clear was that many of the design choices which support people living with dementia and other neurodiverse conditions often come back to good design for everyone.

We began to look at the project as a focus on truly inclusive design, to ensure that the building isn’t just accessible but also welcoming to every patient who comes through the doors.

It includes features such as talking signs, clear signposting and colour choices which work well for people living with dementia and neurodiversity. Since then, we’ve teamed up with the University of Worcester’s Association for Dementia Studies on our ‘Designing for Everyone’ project, which builds on our research at Cinderford and our work with the national charity, Dimensions to create a tool to help any primary care space understand how it can make its environment more inclusive.

At Cinderford, this approach extended to the centre’s outdoor space too. It champions the power of growing and the outdoors to support health and wellbeing for everyone, with a community allotment where local people can grow fruit and vegetables, linking into social prescribing initiatives.

We’re immensely proud of the team and the effort everyone has put in over many years to get to this stage. It’s just the start of a long-term partnership that we know will really boost Cinderford. It’s a very exciting time when facilities like this finally open to patients. From the allotment, to the solar power, to the wayfinding system this project has a number of special features that will benefit a wide range of local stakeholders – maximising social impact in the town and surrounding areas.”

Jon Webb, our Senior Development Manager

After many years of careful planning we are delighted to be in our new premises, which enables us to offer a broader range of services to patients. We have placed a real focus on ensuring the building and staff can really support people living with dementia. For example, people with dementia can find it difficult to read everyday signs and may require help to find their way around. We will have signs that includes symbols and pictures, which can be easier for people to understand.”

Dr. Ingalil Sandys, GP at Dockham Surgery

Watch our video tour of the building below.

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