Good designs needed to curb hospital-acquired infections

How often have you heard of someone getting admitted to the hospital and later developing infections? An estimated 10% to 25% of patients admitted to city hospitals become victims of hospital infection, about one-third of which can be prevented. A number of patients are suffering and even dying, as they are exposed to diseases they did not have when they initially got admitted to the hospital. This is partially due to poor infection control system in hospitals.

According to Dr Sudarshan Ballal, medical director, Manipal Hospital, hospital-acquired infection is a big problem in India. “Hospital infections become a lot more serious and are difficult to manage. However, infections can be controlled by using a few standard operating procedures and the precautions laid down universally.

Moreover, washing hands is one procedure that can help reduce these infections steadily. Hospitals should emphasise that every doctor or assistant, before or after  any big or small procedure, must  wash his hands properly,” said Ballal.

Hospital-acquired infections can be of various types, explained Dr Sangeetha Joshi, microbiologist, Manipal Hospital. “It can lead to urinary tract infection, pneumonia, surgical site infection or urinary-catheter related infection. Personal hygiene, management of hospital waste, the hospital environment and architecture play an important role in minimising hospital-acquired infections,” said Joshi.

The role of specialised design, planning and architecture of hospitals and healthcare facilities has become evident with the growing spurt of communicable diseases. Previously, hospital design focused on low cost per square foot or the incorporation of new technology and was based on models of nursing care derived from industrial settings, where the transmission of infection was not a consideration.

One of the most important shifts in hospital design in the past few years has been to design patient-care spaces for infection control.

“It is of paramount importance to consider hospital infection control measures while planning various departments like wards, operation theatre, intensive care unit, central sterile supply department, etc. Hospital design should provide for the separation of dirty and clean areas, adequate ventilation, lighting and storage facilities and design of patient accommodation areas, including adequate number of wash hand basins and private room/single bed facilities,” said Raghunanda SA, founder of Synergic Designs.