The need for doors in any healthcare environment to work smoothly, quietly and be reliable to facilitate the passage of patients’ visitors and trolleys can sometimes literally be matter of life and death.
Having automatic doors, that open every time is taken as a ‘given’ by some healthcare trusts. It’s a fundamental element of any interior hospital infrastructure enabling them to operate efficiently on a daily basis.
At Laidlaw, the UK’s largest independent supplier of ironmongery, doorsets, balustrades and security systems they know that supplying a quality durable and reliable opening system for doors is crucial to the delivery of good practice.
The Orbis Swing Operator from Laidlaw is a fully automatic single or double door operator for swing doors. It provides a host of features that delivers the quality and reliability that UK healthcare environments demand.
The Orbis Swing Operator comes with a slide or articulated arm, has a spring or motor-powered door closer, a wind stop feature and is fully integrated with access control systems. The Orbis Operator provides a secure interlock feature, a digital selector (available as a package) and comes with a 120minute Exova Warrington fire test certification. The Orbis Operator is ideal for high traffic areas and is very easily maintained. It is also tested to a two-hour fire test.
There is now a large number of Laidlaw Orbis Swing Door Operators installed in UK healthcare units which are making a positive difference to the daily operation of these facilities. The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust Hospital’s A&E Department deals with around 75,000 patients per year with approximately 55,000 inpatients and 250,000 outpatient attendances each year.
Laidlaw, in conjunction with Kier Construction, supplied and installed five sets of double doors with their Orbis Automatic Swing operating system. Similar healthcare projects were fulfilled at The Royal Free Hospital and Hillingdon Hospitals in London, together with Orbis units being supplied and installed at the Torbay Critical Care Unit in Devon and another five double units and one single unit at Clacton Hospital in Essex.
Time, they say is money. Contractors specify Orbis from Laidlaw due to its speed of installation, with the average time taking only 2-3 weeks from quotation to achieving a practical completion of the job. A recent auto door operator installation was completed in 2 weeks by Laidlaw at Torbay Hospital.
Stuart Griffiths from Laidlaw stated: "We had to overcome challenges along the way, with two of the doors having head room issues so special plates had to be fitted above the doors so the auto operator could sit neatly above the door. It’s a testament to Laidlaw’s commitment to providing full support for every project.”
Commenting on another Laidlaw healthcare project Stuart Griffiths went on to add: “We have just completed a job at Rotherham Hospital with the Kier Group using our Orbis Auto Operator offering. Kier came to us needing the job to be completed within 2 weeks from the point Kier got in touch. We actually managed it in under a week from the original site survey.
“Rotherham Hospital were so pleased with the door autos and service levels that they placed another order only a few weeks later.”
The Torbay Critical Care Unit installation was a prime example of a truly fit for purpose project where the specifier, Interserve, were delighted with the product and levels of service from Laidlaw.
An Interserve Project Manager said: "If only all our sub-contractors were as keen to get the job done as Laidlaw.
“It’s fair to say the team from Laidlaw did a cracking job and were totally focused in getting the task done as quickly as possible to assist us in completing the level 5 template.
“Many thanks to Laidlaw for their efforts in completing this fast-track install.”
Due to the versatility of the Orbis automatic swing operator, it is ideal for use in a wide range of applications; Hospitals and Healthcare Environments, Retail, Airports, Hotels and Leisure.
The Orbis door automation systems also includes options for sliding doors. The Orbis sliding door operator is surface mounted and suitable for either single or double doors. It can be integrated into a wide range of commercial façades suitable for high traffic applications.
