Hospitals are vital public health institutions, providing care to millions of people every year. However, it is important to recognise that hospital architecture and infrastructure alone cannot solve all the problems faced by healthcare systems. The idea of 'not asking the impossible of hospital walls' underlines the need for a holistic approach that integrates not only well-designed architecture, but also appropriate health policies, human resources and technologies.
What can architecture do for hospitals?
Hospital architecture plays a vital role in the functionality of healthcare facilities. Thoughtful design leads to operational efficiency: fast, fluid movement for patients, minimisation of unnecessary travel for medical staff and efficient emergency circuits. Smartly controlled, well-placed and appropriate surfaces also contribute to the quality and efficiency of care.
As for the comfort of the spaces, it brings conviviality and well-being, reassuring patients and making the hospital more attractive: ergonomics of the spaces, absence of noise pollution, air quality, natural lighting, accessibility.
In addition, the integration of advanced technologies and digital management systems optimises the use and visibility of hospital spaces, reducing stress for patients, staff and visitors. For their part, digitalisation and automation facilitate the flow of care and the patient's journey through the hospital: the sharing of a single patient file, geolocation, interactive terminals, queue management, and changing spatial requirements: remote expertise, collaborative decision-making, robotic surgery, automatic clothing dispensers, AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles)...
But even the best architecture has its limits. Hospital design must also take into account many other external factors if it is to function optimally.
What does architecture depend on?
Inadequate forecasting of disease trends, ageing populations and potential pandemics often leads to inadequate structures. And a declining number of independent doctors is leading to more and more recourse to hospitals.
As a result, prevention is still underdeveloped and poorly understood by the population, with the consequences of late treatment. These additional factors lead to a saturation of healthcare facilities, for which architecture cannot be held responsible. There is also a shortage of medical and paramedical resources, as opposed to architectures that are often overambitious or overestimate their needs.
Faced with this situation, and in order to truly improve healthcare, a holistic approach is required.
For a holistic approach
There are a number of prerequisites that must be met long before the building can be designed.
Firstly, an appropriate and rational health policy on which the institutions can base their medical project, which becomes an essential basis for drawing up the real estate programme and designing the hospitals.
Secondly, a good distribution of medical activities between facilities in the same region facilitates care and efficiency. Adequate and well-distributed funding is also necessary to support infrastructure and human resources.
Last but not least, optimal management of human resources is essential to ensure the efficiency of hospital facilities and hence of care.
In addition to these prerequisites, hospital staff must be made aware of the need to use real estate resources responsibly and with respect for the institution's founding organisation.
Hospitals are essential for the population, but it's clear that their architecture alone cannot solve all health problems. It's clear that we need to go beyond architecture and extend the hospital beyond its walls.
Ultimately, we need to move towards a fair balance of responsibilities between the walls and the players in the healthcare sector, through a global approach.
