Hospitals should be homely, and the well-being of the patients, their relatives and personnel should be at the top of the agenda.

Mistakes can be minimised

Senior consultant in COWI, Pernille Weiss Terkildsen - a former nurse and Domestic Care Manager who now holds a Masters Degree in Health Science - highlights the fact that many of the unintentional errors that occur in hospitals could be either minimised or completely avoided if the building's physical framework was geared more towards preventing infection, increasing hygiene and minimising the risk of injury from falls, for example.

"There is a definite connection between the design of the building and the way the patient and the hospital operates – from the technical installations to the logistics and architecture," says Pernille Weiss Terkildsen.

Space to work more effectively

"Hospitals could save a lot on operational costs if the wards were designed to meet the staff's professional needs. Hospital personnel work across various professional disciplines; over three shifts; with mobile technology and with tailor-made treatment plans. They also work with patients who don't want to be treated as a two-digit registration number," explains Pernille Weiss Terkildsen.

Pernille Weiss Terkildsen knows that building better hospitals will not only create better conditions for patients and their relatives, it will also generate a better working environment for personnel and consequently a more effective and functional health care service system.

Breaking with traditions

Pernille Weiss Terkildsen emphasises that the planning of modern hospitals encompasses far more than just happy paintings and healthy pot plants: "Hospitals used to be built like rational, operational organisations."

"But even new hospitals are being built with two-patient rooms - even though many surveys indicate that these fail to meet patients' needs either for solitude or companionship. Patients who are seriously ill prefer to have their own rooms, while those who are in better shape are happy to share a room with several others so they at least have someone to talk to."

"It's all about being able to break the mould and think creatively as soon as the planning phase of a new hospital begins," concludes Pernille Weiss Terkildsen.
 
By Jette Westerdahl
Published: 27.06.2005