Experts have been roped in to help address the issue of increasing violence in A&E units in hospitals. Experts from the field of designing have drawn up special clinic layouts to create a peaceful atmosphere.

The new measures will include TV screens displaying live updates on the number and types of cases being dealt with the staff at the time. The waiting rooms will also have displays showing the different stages of the treatment process.

The A&E patients will also be greeted differently on arrival and their anxieties will be addressed so as to make their experience positive. The Design Council is trying the new approach in three hospital trusts and aims to address the issue of increasing violence against doctors and nurses. The approach will be tested at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Derbyshire, University Hospital Southampton and Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London.

David Kester, the head of Design Council said, “For not much more than £60,000 this system can be quickly and easily installed. It could significantly reduce the burden of aggression from patients. This is design at its best.”

Designers, psychologists and health care experts are working on ways to help patients understand why they have to wait. The experts have also advices hospitals on lighting, decor and seating.