HEALTHCARE & HOSPITAL FACILITIES
SECURITY UNDER THE KNIFE
Hospitals must consistently balance best practices with safety protocols and patient comfort. Here Ben Farrar, Market Development Manager at Traka UK, investigates what this means for facility management and what it takes to enhance hospital security cost effectively and without losing the essential welcoming feel to hospital premises.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we do numerous things in our day to day lives. It was also an opportunity for many industries to contribute to mitigating the outbreak – particularly facilities management in our healthcare environments.
In a post-Covid world, there is increased awareness surrounding several areas such as cleanliness, maintenance management and ventilation. FM services tend to address these areas, ensuring hospitals remain functioning, hygienic and safe.
It is smart for organisations to utilise such services, as the industry’s offerings bring about numerous benefits for all stakeholders involved. In a post-pandemic climate, the sector is integral when it comes to operations running smoothly within organisations.
Setting the scene Responding to such change is not that easy with healthcare facilities and there is plenty of change happening. From increased competition to the ever- present uncertainties of regulations and funding and that is all without considering the lasting impact of the Covid pandemic.
Within this, security is a major concern for any large establishment, but hospitals, whether in the private or public sector, present planners with a unique challenge. Beyond the ethical responsibility to keep patients and staff safe, the abundance of expensive medical equipment and potentially harmful drugs puts medical facilities at a heightened risk of theft, whether pre-planned or a simple act of opportunism.
Despite this risk, hospital security must sit alongside another equally important priority for healthcare facilities: the need for a friendly, calming and open design that makes patients and visitors feel at ease, and can aid wellbeing and ultimate recovery.
Whilst managers want to achieve a good balance between these aspects and may look to innovative technologies, the financial constraints in place, often put a strain on implementing completely new systems. The disruption to provision of essential medical care must also be considered when looking at these.
Access control or controlling access? Controlling access is a particularly troublesome area for hospital security managers as staff usually require a higher priority on being able to move through the hospital quickly in an emergency.
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Here, integrated technology solutions, if well-implemented, can offer a more elegant solution than a long, unwelcoming series of locked doors, and can respond more efficiently to a fast- moving situation.
Modern access control systems and the increasing use of biometrics and, more recently, facial recognition, can also provide a number of in-built advantages. However, managers should keep a few things in mind when assessing potential providers, not least the cost and hesitancy in using post-Covid.
For example, large hospitals may have complex requirements and need access control systems with scalable security protocols, so that door scanners recognise staff seniority, areas of practice and hours of work. This allows a higher level of access control for a hospital’s inner wards whilst keeping the building’s open design and emergency response readiness.
At the same time, sophisticated security and alarm systems must incorporate different alert levels in case of emergency or major incident, capable of instantly putting the whole or part of a building on restricted access or even complete lock down at a touch of a button.
Flexibility is also a priority, especially with the regular turnover of staff and medical students, junior doctors, and that hospital staff frequently switch between different areas of a hospital.
Alongside the public areas of the hospital, the core operation rooms, which all together keep the hospital running – the doctor’s mess area, switch rooms, electrical riser cupboards – all need to be considered in any security planning.
Integrated solutions One solution is to take a step right back from front end security, and consider key and equipment management solutions, which can meet many of the challenges presented in healthcare facilities. Not least as systems can integrate into existing access control systems in place to automate processes, where there is a ‘weak link’ in the security chain.
For example, keys or credentials to doors that function as barriers to sensitive areas, equipment and even
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