Hospital Built Environment Requirements for Infection Prevention and Control

Health care associated infections (HAI), or nosocomial infections, are a global problem that is frequently encountered in low-resource settings, contexts where MSF operates. In an era of increasing antimicrobial resistance, the importance to enhance the measures for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) seem more relevant than ever.

A growing number of studies are providing evidence associating the design of healthcare facilities with clinical outcomes. (Ulrich, 2008) Researches indicates that well-designed physical settings make healthcare facilities safer for patients, create an efficient working environment and, most important, have a significant impact in the transmission of pathogens, mitigating the risk of infection to patients and staff. (Hall, 2013) In addition, since last year, the hospital built environment is listed as a core component of IPC programmes at the national and acute health care facility level. (WHO, 2016). Nevertheless, it is imperative to reach a balance between desired hospital built environment requirements and context limitations. In this regard, the definition of what could be considered as the basic standards or essential structural requirements for hospital built environment remains without an answer.

The aim of this project was to identify and select designs criteria to optimize the hospital built environment in order to enhance and facilitated the behaviour of healthcare workers regarding the execution of IPC measures. Furthermore, the project served to optimize both existing and newly built hospitals, specifically modular facilities.