HEALTH & SAFETY DESIGN TO FINISH
The multifaceted design of modern healthcare projects demands careful coordination and a tailored approach when specifying access control systems, explains Sreeraj Manjalavil of Consort Architectural Hardware.
The healthcare infrastructure is ever-evolving. Facilities are no longer single entities for one, they are sprawling ecosystems that serve a wide range of users, from medical staff and administrators to vulnerable patients, visitors and maintenance personnel. Safeguarding their safety and security, whilst providing seamless operation is a complex challenge – one frequently solved by access control.
Today’s security solutions play a central role in protecting people and mitigating risk across much of our built environment. An appropriately specified system is effective at regulating, monitoring and restricting entry and exits, and allows users to navigate an integrated network and its hardware to ensure the right access is provided to the right person at the right time.
In healthcare buildings, the use of access control expands further, whereby a system can tackle a host of unique operational challenges – significantly contributing to fire safety, ease of movement and the theft prevention of equipment, medicine and sensitive patient data, and all whilst protecting human life and preserving privacy and dignity. In doing so, access control can become the cornerstone of functionality, compliance and organisation in any healthcare environment. Though, as the complexity of projects deepen, decision makers are reminded that coordination is key.
PREPARING AND EMPOWERING USERS
Between January and March 2025, there were over 832,000 patient safety events recorded in the NHS. Whilst each of these events may not be directly linked to building security specifically, the healthcare industry is faced with a considerable number of safety incidents, which suggests greater monitoring and mitigation is needed across the board.
Patient wellbeing and security will always remain paramount in the sector, and access control oſten provides staff with the necessary means of retaining control without impeding care.
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Hospitals for example, sustain a high level of footfall across large campuses with multiple points of entry and on-site patient record systems, presenting a number of simultaneous security tests as a result. Though, unlike other public buildings, where rigid security measures are active at all times, many healthcare environments must strike a balance throughout their security framework to meet a host of one-of-a-kind demands.
With a continuous influx of patients, staff and visitors, healthcare groups are habitually required to remain accessible and inviting around the clock. At the same time, they must also be prepared to deter unwanted visitors in areas of restricted access and lock down intensive wards to ensure patients remain safe and secure under periods of monitoring. For this, the use of access credentials is critical and provides a regulated system for sensitive staff- controlled areas such as pharmacies, wards and server rooms. By applying role, zone or schedule based access, decision makers can authorise personnel seamlessly, empowering facilities to manage patient care without compromising security in the process.
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