NHS Estates

This publication sets out best practice guidance on the design of healthcare facilities for children and adolescents, with the aim of creating a child-centred built environment. It is primarily intended for new-builds and upgrades of existing childrens facilities. Central considerations are alleviating fear and anxiety, maximising security and safety, reducing boredom, and creating a healing environment. Facilities should also cater for parents and siblings. Issues discussed include: general functional and design considerations, including patient groups, capacity planning, space, access and security requirements, play facilities and privacy aspects; design of specific service areas, including reception, out-patient and in-patient facilities; engineering services; and cost information.

Hospital Accommodation for Children and Young People

NHS Estates Staff

Provides guidance to help health planners, estates and facilities managers, sterile services managers and capital planning and design teams to plan and design a sterile services department. It discusses the objectives of a sterile services department (SSD) and service requirements, particularly focusing on: raising standards in decontamination services by optimising the built environment: service requirements strategy: calculating the optimum capacity of an SSD to eradicate bottlenecks: determining the most appropriate location of an SSD. Design guidance based on the above service objectives is outlined. Finally, the finer details of the individual spaces within an SSD are discussed.

Sterile Services Department

A good estate strategy is an integral part of healthcare planning. This publication gives best practice advice and includes sample strategies in the form of case studies. It is complemented by two other publications: "Estatecode", which includes a section on property appraisal; and "Capital Investment Manual", which sets out the process for procuring new capital assets.

Developing an Estate Strategy

This publication contains best practice guidance on assessing and improving wayfinding systems in hospitals and other healthcare environments, including signs and other information to help people get to and around the site. Other topics also discussed include: factors that influence how people find their way; inclusive design for wayfinding systems; the impact of a poor wayfinding system; developing the business case; and tools to help evaluate the adequacy of current systems and identify areas for improvement.

Effective Wayfinding and Signing Systems; Guidance for Healthcare Facilities

Wayfinding

David Loe

Hilary Dalke

Paul J. Littlefair

The quality of the visual hospital environment can have a positive psychological effect on patient recovery and staff performance. This guidance document focuses on the visual environment in hospitals and healthcare buildings, and the use of appropriate colour design and lighting. It was written jointly by BRE and the Colour Design Research Centre at London South Bank University, as part of a Department of Health funded project.

NHS Estates

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