Quality standard

Quality statement 4: Planning, design and management of hospital facilities

Quality statement 4: Planning, design and management of hospital facilities

Quality statement

Hospitals involve infection prevention and control teams in the building, refurbishment and maintenance of hospital facilities.

Rationale

In a healthcare setting the built environment can play a significant role in the transmission of infection. The design of new buildings, as well as their refurbishment and ongoing maintenance, should allow good infection prevention and control practices. Involving infection prevention and control teams in the planning, design and maintenance of hospital facilities can ensure that needs are anticipated, planned for and met, and that the risk of healthcare‑associated infections is minimised.

Quality measures

Structure

a) Evidence of local arrangements for involving infection prevention and control teams in the building and refurbishment of facilities in the hospital. Examples of evidence may include protocols covering infection prevention and control in the built environment; estate department procedures to engage infection prevention and control teams in new build and refurbishment projects; building and refurbishment project plans and schedules of work that show the involvement of infection prevention and control teams; and records of completed building and refurbishment works that show whether infection prevention and control requirements have been met.

Data source: Local data collection.

b) Evidence of local arrangements for involving infection prevention and control teams in the maintenance of facilities in the hospital. Examples of evidence may include protocols covering infection prevention and control in the built environment; estate department procedures to engage infection prevention and control teams in maintenance works; maintenance plans and schedules that show the involvement of infection prevention and control teams; and records of completed maintenance works that show whether infection prevention and control requirements have been met.

Data source: Local data collection.

What the quality statement means for service providers, healthcare professionals and commissioners

Service providers (hospitals) in secondary care settings ensure that infection prevention and control teams are involved in planning, design and maintenance of hospital facilities, as part of managing and maintaining the whole estate to minimise the risk from infection. Providers should follow best practice guidance where available, such as Infection control in the built environment: Health Building Note 00-09 (Department of Health and Social Care, 2013), which identifies infection prevention and control issues and risks that need to be addressed at each stage of a new build or refurbishment project.

Healthcare professionals (including hospital clinicians and nursing staff) who are part of hospitals' infection and control teams are involved in the planning, design and maintenance of hospital facilities. This may include identifying design issues (such as provision of isolation facilities, decontamination facilities and hand hygiene facilities); agreeing the requirements for infection prevention and control; risk assessing the works to be undertaken and advising on the necessary measures to protect patients, visitors and staff; ensuring that control measures are implemented and adhered to; and attending estates and property project planning meetings.

Commissioners (such as clinical commissioning groups) ensure that they commission secondary care services from providers where infection prevention and control teams are involved in the planning, design and maintenance of hospital services and facilities.

What the quality statement means for patients, service users and carers

People receiving treatment in, or visiting, hospitals can expect the hospitals, and their related buildings and grounds, to be designed and looked after in a way that minimises the risk of infection.

Source guidance

Healthcare-associated infections: prevention and control. NICE guideline PH36 (2011), quality improvement statement 10