Oladapo, O and Liyanage, C L (2010) Control of healthcare associated infections: A concerted effort. In: Egbu, C (ed.) Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Nosocomial infection or Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) is a significant problem in UK hospitals; recognized also as presenting a significant problem in terms of quality of care and cost for hospitals, governments and consumers in most countries. Although, many researchers and healthcare managers consider HAI as basically a medical issue, it is a result of inadequacies of the 'built environment' subjects as well. Research has confirmed that the healthcare environment is a secondary reservoir for organisms with the potential for infecting patients. It includes all the physical surroundings of patients and staff, i.e. structure, fittings, fixtures, furnishings, equipment and supplies. Poor facilities planning and arrangements facilitate the spread of infections in the healthcare setting. The paper describes FM functions to be considered in the control of HAI during design and construction stages and during building occupancy stage (maintenance). It also suggests that if HAI is to be reduced, it becomes important that infection control is “designed-in” at the planning and design stages of a healthcare-facility (new build or renovation project) meaning that designers, architects, engineers, facilities managers and planners will work in collaboration with infection control teams to deliver facilities in which infection control 'needs' have been planned for, anticipated and met. Therefore, on the whole, this makes tackling the problem of HAI a combination of professional efforts of both parties from the clinical side and non-clinical side.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | design and construction; facilities management; facilities planning; healthcare associated infection; infection control |
| Index terms: | design and construction, built environment, reservoir, architect, planner, design stage, facilities manager, renovation, collaboration, facilities planning, facilities management, manager, designer, new build, meaning, engineer |
| Subjects: | design process, renovation and retrofit, management, construction integration, infrastructure and transport systems, sociology, practitioner, profession, professional practice, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Procurement, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Urban Studies, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here