Integrated Design of Hospital Wards for a Safe and Sustainable Patient Environment

Redesigning healthcare building infrastructure to minimise infection risk, meet demanding government carbon reduction targets and create a safe and comfortable environment for patients and staff is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the NHS. Hospital acquired infection remains at the forefront of the Department of Health agenda. Targets to halve MRSA by 2008 and cut C Difficile infections by 30% by 2011, together with increasing awareness that the environment influences the risk of transmission, have put infection control at the heart of hospital building and refurbishment programs. Building related energy use is also an increasing concern for the NHS, with the national carbon reduction targets of 20% by 2010 and 60% by 2050 are almost certain to be demanded of hospitals. These two issues present a major design conflict. Improving ventilation to increase patient comfort and reduce infection while at the same time reducing the need for mechanical building services to cut energy use is a huge undertaking. The research outlined in this proposal will tackle these design challenges from an integrated building services and infection control perspective. The aim of the proposal is to develop robust design tools and an interactive computational based modelling environment that can used to evaluate and optimise hospital building design strategies in terms of several different aspects; energy use, infection risk and thermal comfort as well as patient safety and cost implications. A series of targeted projects, initially focusing on the design and ventilation of ward accommodation, will be used to develop these design tools and at the same time establish specific evidence-based solutions that address critical issues in existing outdated hospital wards. The proposal will establish a cross-disciplinary research team drawing on expertise from academia, industry and healthcare providers to identify, develop and exploit the latest scientific advances and create the knowledge base necessary to establish the best designs for both refurbished and new build accommodation. By the end of the five year funding term the research will have significantly advanced strategies for redesigning hospital accommodation. It will have created usable design tools that for the first time formally integrate multiple issues, including the risk of infection, as well as facilitating real, on the ground, changes in UK hospitals. The future research strategy will incorporate aspects beyond the physical built environment including human behaviour and microbial dynamics, to be able to evaluate the management and operation of a facility alongside the core infrastructure. By 2020 this will enable ward environments to meet both the immediate and long-term energy and infection targets, and will have also cascaded the modelling techniques and design methodologies across other areas of hospitals to yield real benefits across whole hospital estates.