LPFT shortlisted twice in Design in Mental Health Awards 2026
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted in two categories at the Design in Mental Health Awards 2026.
The recognition is for the project team behind Havenside Ward, the trust’s new adult inpatient ward at Norton Lea in Boston.
The announcement comes two months after the ward officially opened and recognises partnership working, innovation and a focus on patient experience.
The Design in Mental Health Awards are regarded as among the most prestigious national awards in the mental healthcare design and build community, celebrating excellence in architecture, interiors, products and co-production.
LPFT has been shortlisted in the Clinical Team of the Year and Art Installation of the Year categories.
Over the past five years, the project team has led LPFT’s Eradication of Dormitories Programme, which began with Castle and Ellis Wards at the Peter Hodgkinson Centre in Lincoln and concluded with Havenside Ward at Norton Lea.
The team, which brings together more than 40 years of combined NHS experience, has focused on improving environments to support recovery and wellbeing.
Innovations across the programme include the introduction of a silent alarm system, wider use of acoustic panelling to create calmer and quieter spaces, and the opening of the Norton Tea Wellness Café.
The café was developed in collaboration with the Building Together Focus Group and was designed to improve patient experience and support therapeutic recovery.
Alan Pattison, Clinical Operational Estates Lead, said: “Being shortlisted in two categories is a fantastic achievement and a real recognition of the dedication shown by everyone involved over the past five years.
“This programme has always been about creating safer, more therapeutic environments that genuinely support recovery, and I’m incredibly proud of the way our teams and partners have worked together to make that vision a reality.”
A partnership between the University of Lincoln and LPFT has also been recognised in the Art Installation of the Year category.
Senior academics from the University of Lincoln School of Creative Arts developed three artworks titled Resilience, which have been installed within Havenside Ward.
The pieces were created following a year-long programme of creative workshops before the ward opened. They are now located in the Wellness Café, Courtyard, and De-escalation and Seclusion Suite.
The artworks were developed as part of the ongoing Art of Wellbeing Project, a multi-year initiative combining arts, co-creation and community lived experience to support wellbeing and recovery.
Led by Rachel Baynton and Dr Steve Fossey, the project brought together service users, clinical staff, Occupational Therapy teams, experts-by-experience from Ward 12 at the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Pilgrim Hospital, and students from Boston College and the University of Lincoln.
Rachel Baynton, Associate Professor in Performance, Arts and Cultural Production at the University of Lincoln School of Creative Arts, said: “We're so pleased that our ongoing work with LPFT has been recognised for a second time by Design in Mental Health following a nomination for our collaboration at the Peter Hodgkinson Centre in 2024.
“Engaging in arts and creativity is proven to have a lasting positive impact on mental health and has been shown in multiple studies to reduce anxiety and increase confidence.
“LPFT have recognised this and invited us into their innovative ward design right from the very start.
“We've been able to combine and share our knowledge and expertise across arts and health, to ensure a beneficial process for our participants, as well as beautiful finished pieces for Havenside.
“Working with LPFT in Boston, in Lincoln, and with local communities, students and young people from the region has been a pleasure and a privilege; Steve and I are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the project.”
Associate Professor in Fine Art, Dr Steve Fossey, said: “The three artworks are rooted in shared conversations about resilience, care, belonging, and senses of safety.
“Inspired by twelve resilient flowers native to the Boston area, the images were developed as digital paintings - translating dialogue, drawing and reflection into layered visual artworks that connect the ward to the local landscape and its people.”
Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony during the Design in Mental Health Network Conference in Coventry on Tuesday, 2 June.
Havenside is a 19-bed mixed gender mental health ward based at Norton Lea in Boston. It officially opened in March 2026 and replaced the former Ward 12 at Pilgrim Hospital.
The ward was part of a programme to completely eliminate dormitory-style accommodation across Lincolnshire’s mental health inpatient services.
It provides individual ensuite bedrooms, bright and open shared spaces, and areas for therapeutic activities. LPFT says the facility was co-produced with people who have used mental health wards, from the earliest design conversations through to the finishing touches.