For healthcare settings, whether large hospital sites with multiple buildings or smaller medical and GP practices, health trusts are constantly evaluating opportunities to expand facilities, introducing new treatment centres to improve patient care as they develop the required capacity for community needs.
Integrating secure bike parking facilities can be a key aspect amongst these developments, ensuring that the right resources are in place to support hospital employees that cycle to work. As these are typically busy, high-foot traffic environments, space and security are the considerations. This is especially relevant if there exists a need to integrate a separate facility for staff bike parking only, in order to ensure appropriate capacity for all staff and avoid competition for parking spaces from hospital visitors.
Restricting Bike Theft
For hospital employees who regularly cycle to work, the availability of on-site bike parking is key to facilitating these journeys. Ensuring the security of bikes stored is an aspect that can’t be overlooked. Bike theft is a major factor that prevents many individuals from cycling to work. 77,148 bike thefts were reported to police across England and Wales across 2022/23, equating to an incident every 7 minutes.
Some of the main issues for healthcare settings with regard to bike theft include:
- Facilities with a poor layout and a lack of appropriate space planning involved.
- Bikes that are open and visible to all site users, encouraging opportunities for theft.
- A facility that is accessible to all site users with no means of access control or security measures in place.
- A lack of CCTV and secure monitoring, with a facility that doesn’t offer clear lines of sight for users.
Space and Security Considerations
Many hospitals, especially those in densely built urban settings, have to operate with constricted space, which can be challenging when accommodating high-foot traffic. Space-efficient bike parking therefore becomes a necessity, and, in these circumstances, two-tier racks and semi-vertical racks are ideal for maximising the use of available space, without the need to increase the total footprint required.
For healthcare settings looking to integrate a separate staff-only facility, the likelihood is that this will need to accommodate long-term use. This raises its own set of specific considerations, typically requiring a higher level of security, an appropriate capacity of parking spaces for all staff, and an effective means of access control. Bike stands and racks installed as a standalone installation can be appropriate for short-term visitor bike parking if installed under cover, and offers a line of sight for users and the means to safely secure bikes. However, combining these with an enclosed storage facility to improve security and provide effective shelter is crucial for accommodating longer term use for staff.
It’s also worth considering that for hospitals in the public sector, bike parking facilities may be required to pass Secured by Design Level 2 testing, or Level 1 if the facility is installed within a secured environment. The Bicycle Association and Cycle Rail Working Group’s Standards for Public Cycle Parking outlines the requirements for public bike parking in the UK.
Bike Parking with urbanspec
With a focus on providing functionality and design styles readily suited to healthcare settings, urbanspec bike parking products are available in a wide range of pre-engineered designs configurable to meet most project requirements, with bespoke design options available to meet more specific needs.
The prevention of bike theft is central to urbanspec product design, with bike hubs, bike stores and bike modules able to meet Secure By Design specifications, accredited by Sold Secure. Access control options for bike stores and hubs, such as mechanical keypad and smartphone access systems, are accommodated within a high-quality steel door and frame design, enabling users to have confidence that their bikes will be safely stored in use.
Our extensive resource and knowledge base makes the specification process easy, with CAD models, NBS specifications and datasheets available for download to facilitate the design and planning process. Supporting CPD programmes provide clarity on the best available practices for space planning.
