Enhancing the Healing Environment

Patient experience

The Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE) programme has encouraged and enabled nurse-led teams to work in partnership with patients to improve the environment in which they deliver care. The EHE programme has now been completed and the work on dementia friendly-design is being taken forward by the Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester.

EHE projects

We worked with more than 250 health and social care organisations including acute, mental health and community NHS trusts, care homes, hospices and HM prisons to support their healing environment projects.

View our directory of completed projects

EHE and dementia

Assessment tools

To support clinical staff and their estates colleagues, we produced a range of resources to enable hospitals and care homes to become more dementia friendly.

Download the EHE dementia tools and design principles

Programme of work

The Department of Health commissioned The King's Fund to develop a number of specific programmes to enhance the environment of care as part of its work to improve the patient experience.

Find out more about our work to improve the care environment for people with dementia

About EHE

Our award-winning programme has encouraged and enabled local multi-disciplinary teams to work in partnership with service users to improve the environment where care is delivered.

Find out more about the programme

Publications, reports and articles

Developing supportive design for people with dementia: The King’s Fund’s Enhancing the Healing Environment Programme 2009-2012

Our publication marks the completion of 26 schemes in 23 NHS acute, community and mental health hospitals in England to improve the environment of care for people with dementia.

Environments for care at the end of life: The King's Fund's Enhancing the Healing Environment Programme 2008-2010

Describing projects in 19 NHS trusts and one HM prison that took part in schemes to improve the environment of care at the end of life, this publication celebrates the completion of the latest phase of the Enhancing the Healing Environment programme.

Principles of Hospice Design

As part of its work through the Enhancing the Healing Environment Programme to improve Environments for Care at End of Life, The King's Fund has supported over 25 hospices as they have undertaken projects to improve their environment of care.

Improving Environments for Care at End of Life: Lessons from eight UK pilot programmes

We share the lessons from a pilot programme launched in 2006 to improve environments for care at end of life, with experiences from eight pilot sites.

Arts and design in health and care reading list

A selected list of references held by The King's Fund library.

EHE articles and press releases

Archive of press releases and articles about the Enhancing the Healing Environment programme.

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Making patient experience a priority

The King's Fund has been working with the Heads of Patient Experience (HOPE) network to better understand the experiences of people using health and care services.

Patient experience: who is listening?

Dan Wellings asks why, despite the many examples, inquiries and reviews, recognising the important of patients’ experiences and listening to patients and their families are still not a priority for the NHS.

Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews: Views of commissioners and clinicians

Our report examines the impact of Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews, which are meetings intended to improve the treatment of people with a learning disability or autistic people in long-term segregation.

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Dr Navina Evans CBE: leadership, learning and the NHS workforce

How do you solve a problem like NHS workforce planning? Ruth Robertson sits down with Dr Navina Evans CBE.