HOSPITAL DESIGN
Designing to accommodate ‘digitalisation’ of services
Guy Barlow, joint managing director of architecture and interior design practice, The Manser Practice, describes how the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the ‘digitalisation’ of our hospital and healthcare services, with many more patients seen ‘virtually’, rather than face-to-face, and the impact this is having on the future of designing for healthcare.
The ‘digitalisation’ of our hospitals and healthcare services has long been an area of development. However, the pandemic exponentially accelerated this progression as we searched for ways to minimise contact with others and the spread of disease. With digitalisation comes a re- think of how we can design our healthcare environments and services. As needs, priorities, and ways of working shift, so must the way we think about the spaces we occupy, and how we design and deliver them. Our team of architects and designers at The Manser Practice has been responding to the changing needs of those working in the healthcare sector for over 15 years. However, nothing comes close to the rapid changes that healthcare institutions have been dealing with over the last twelve months.
Time of transition
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our healthcare infrastructure, and forced hospital services to be delivered differently. With the overriding priority having been to care for and save the lives of those who have been infected – without transmitting the disease to other patients – those working in hospitals,
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This concept image explores how an adaptable layout could save space and promote clinical staff interaction.
GPs’ surgeries, and other healthcare environments, have had to discover and adapt quickly to new ways of working. From our client base we have already seen a real impact on working patterns. For example, in many areas outpatient appointments have moved from 100 per cent internal, face-to-face consultations, to up to 80-85% virtual consultations. Some consultations must be face to face, but even in these cases it has been necessary to minimise the amount of
A. Frosted glass window connection to outer suite
B. Sound
insulation for privacy
C. Breakout space
physical contact. This has had a massive impact on IT infrastructure and access, and administratively on how patients are cared for. We must also then consider where virtual consultations take place. With consultants in some cases working from home, and patients not required to, or able to, travel to appointments, factors such as special provision and digital access need to be carefully managed. We are also seeing a reassessment of planned development of existing healthcare departments, to ensure that projects are not only delivered in a COVID-safe manner, but also take into consideration the infrastructure needed to support future pandemics and new working practices.
Figure 2a: An efficient hexagonal pod concept designed around providing virtual clinical appointments.
Impact of digitisation on design Traditionally, healthcare institutions have been highly compartmentalised, with staff and patients moving between designated specialist areas. Now it is being recognised that internal flexibility is paramount, and that architects should be designing to better accommodate the different needs of future healthcare emergencies, as well as to facilitate new treatment options. Digitalisation can help to provide this important flexibility. The Manser Practice team is already envisioning how the surplus space can used or reconfigured to improve space
July 2021 Health Estate Journal 33
ADAPTABILITY INTERACTION WORKPLACE
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