Partnership provides complete security solution to a medium secure unit

Mersey Care Foundation Trust’s medium secure unit, Rowan View opened in 2020. The purpose-built NHS facility consists of 123 beds over eight wards. The £53 million development represents the Trust’s ambition for a new centre delivering innovative treatments to improve recovery times for people with mental health and learning disabilities.

Mersey Care Trust’s new development required a full security solution including CCTV, video intercom and access control.

In addition to managing complex access requirements spanning many different levels of authorisation, the Trust also wanted to ensure the doors’ integrity was maintained in restricted areas of the building.

This would not be effectively provided with a purely mechanical key system, lacking traceability and creating issues if keys were lost or misplaced. Such a scenario could also lead to key duplicates, making it harder to limit access and potentially lead to escalating costs if the entire suite of keys needed to be replaced.

To provide a complete security solution for Rowan View, Abloy UK and Grantfen worked together to create a bespoke, unified system incorporating CCTV, video intercoms and access control.

The CCTV was designed on the Genetec platform, allowing for the right camera selection for each application. It also incorporates cameras from Axis, Bosch, Hanwha and Oncam.

Abloy UK provided CLIQ technology to create sophisticated access control and key management solution to supplement this. CLIQ combines digital and mechanical technology, delivering the benefits of proven physical security and full digital management.

It also helps increase individual accountability, as keys are programmed to provide permission based on approved access levels. This, in turn, creates a traceable system, allowing Rowan View to see who used which key and when.

Any lost or misplaced keys can be deleted from the system, eliminating the risk of unauthorised access or escalating replacement costs. The future-proofed technology also means that the system can be expanded as required, and software upgrades are included.

Abloy UK also worked to ensure the system was compliant and in line with legislation for Patent Protection.

Neil Hughes, System Integrator Channel Manager at Abloy UK, said: “Rowan View is an exceptional facility, and it required a security system to match. Thanks to the partnership with Grantfen, I believe we’ve achieved this, providing effective key management and convenience to all building users. There are now over 30,000 CLIQ products installed in healthcare settings across the UK.”

Rowan View Security Manager, Gill Elms, said: “Throughout this project, we have worked closely with Grantfen and Abloy UK to ensure the system met the operational and security requirements of Mersey Care.”