Healthcare systems throughout the world are in transition. In rising to challenges of social, demographic, economic and environmental pressures, the devolution of healthcare treatments into community settings continues to gain momentum. The UK government has a strategic aim of delivering world-class public services through transformation change and for our experience of public services to match the very best delivered in the private sector. This design research builds upon this ambition: design enabling a world-class NHS at Home experience.

For clinicians, the patient's home provides an extremely challenging environment to work in, as every home is different. Clinicians are frequently found working in confined and compromised conditions with a heavy reliance on kit bags designed for a non-healthcare context: camera bags, plastic tool boxes and accountant's cases. To support this paradigm shift, a dedicated clinician's bag is desirable to meet rising patient expectations, enable service consistency and quality and to ensure patient safety, as well as enhancing a clinician's productivity, effectiveness and well-being.

The design research is pioneering, evidence-based and inclusive. A diverse range of research methods have informed the design intervention which will be validated through treatment simulations with clinicians and patients: (i) in-depth interviews; (ii) ethnographic research in hospitals and the home; (iii) microbiology testing of kit bags; (iv) analogous case studies of world-class services delivered in confined spaces, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Claridges; (v) Lego Serious Play workshop to capture service narratives and to envision aspirational products; (vii) concept proposal evaluated by Louis Vuitton, Design Creation Centre, Paris; (viii) analysis of cleaning techniques using UV sensitive gels to optimise surface and drawer design; (ix) simulated treatments to optimise usability and functionality; (x) economy of design and materials to increase its environmental credentials.