Looking Deeper - 15th Edition

Looking deeper | The Journal of the Water Safety Forum

as providing the scope for “doing things across the NHS infrastructure in a completely different, or better way.” 1 The guiding principles of Hospital 2.0 include, significantly in this context: improving clinical outcomes and reducing patient safety risk; and supporting clinically appropriate design for adaptable and flexible spaces, optimal flow and safety. Water safety strategy — the challenges In relation to water safety, NHS Scotland has put a strategy in place towards achieving exactly these aims — by consulting closely, at an early stage, with experts on healthcare facility designs that put patient safety at their heart. Will the NHP adopt a similar approach? For example, recommendations from the 2018 Hackitt Report 2 noted that: • Those who procure, design, create and maintain buildings are responsible for ensuring that those buildings are safe for those who live and work in them • That building safety risks [should] be managed so far as is reasonably practicable • That there should be a more effective testing regime with clearer labelling and product traceability In relation to the latter, there will clearly need to be effective feedback and engagement with industry to encourage the best development of the most effective equipment for the NHS. Guidance and compliance may no longer provide all the answers — there needs to be a move to a risk-based approach. In addition, innovative approaches are needed to deal with the rising challenges of wastewater from hospitals and antimicrobial resistance. The competencies of all those involved will be critical to make this happen. However, as yet there does not appear to be any information available to clarify how the NHSE and the DHSC will approach these concerns. This is clearly a subject to be revisited. In the coming months we hope to gain some useful insight from both Government departments so that the next issue of Looking Deeper can present some solid details on how the NHP will address these issues. References 1. https://content.yudu.com/web/1u0jl/0A1umgt/HEJ January-2024/html/index.html?page=56&origin=reader 2. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ media/5afc50c840f0b622e4844ab4/Building_a_Safer_ Future_-_web.pdf • That poor procurement practices need to be tackled.

HOSPITAL DESIGN: PUTTING AN OPTIMAL INFECTION CONTROL ENVIRONMENT AT ITS HEART

Dr Shanom Ali

Susan Pearson talks to Dr Shanom Ali on how designs for new healthcare facilities must consider strategies to minimise infection control issues. Dr Shanom Ali is the lead for the Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) — a multi-disciplinary microbiology diagnostics and research facility based in London, an associate professor at University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a trustee for the Healthcare Infection Society.* He is also Director of a UKAS accredited microbiology testing laboratory at the ERL, that performs over 50,000 tests annually from various hospitals in and around London to keep patients safe from acquiring infection. Dr Ali discusses how well-informed thinking on infection prevention and control (IPC) should impact on design to reduce risks behind the very serious IPC issues that can occur in new facilities — and also reflects on how design that improves the overall patient experience can be achieved without compromising patients’ safety. Dr Ali is quoted in this article in a personal capacity. How has your work at the ERL informed your thoughts on the infection prevention and control (IPC) considerations needed when new hospitals are designed?

The ERL, which comprises a team of healthcare scientists and academics, provides academic research and

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