Surface specification plays an essential role when specifying for healthcare estates, creating a more hygienic environment that enhances patient wellbeing.
Specifying for the healthcare estate environment is extremely technically demanding. Surfaces across hospitals and clinics must be durable enough for a challenging, high-traffic environment, while also being easy to clean. With patient health an absolute priority, high levels of functionality are expected as standard. Beyond this, healthcare spaces are increasingly expected to provide a soothing and welcoming environment to all occupants, from patients, to visitors, to staff.
No space is exempt from this, including washrooms, changing facilities and patient bathrooms. These areas are essential and frequently used within healthcare settings, so careful consideration must be given to materials selected in cubicle and panel systems. For specifiers, this means selecting surfaces that help facilitate a more relaxing experience while also meeting the highest standards for durability and cleanliness.
Hygienic vs antibacterial
Of these priorities, hygiene is most prominent. But not all hygienic surfaces are created equal. There is a clear delineation in surface materials used in healthcare materials – those that are ‘antibacterial,’ and others that are simply classed as ‘hygienic.’ The latter represents the baseline for all such surfaces, in that they should be non-porous, easy to clean and durable enough to withstand continued chemical cleaning over their lifetime. Subject to a rigorous cleaning regimen, these surfaces will guard against the build-up of microbial growth, as well as dirt and moisture build-up.
Such features should be considered standard in the demanding healthcare environment, but there is an option to go one step further. Antibacterial surfaces are ingrained with silver ion technologies that break down bacteria between cleaning cycles. Consequently, they are well-suited to high-traffic areas such as bathrooms, washrooms and changing rooms, where contamination and bacteria may be more of a risk.
It is important to note that there are no standards governing the use of antibacterial surface technologies in hospital or clinic settings. However, with the risk of infection forever foremost in specifiers’ thoughts, these solutions are understandably growing in popularity among specifiers and estate managers.
There are no standards governing the use of antibacterial surface technologies in hospital or clinic settings
Analysing the air
Alongside the distinction between antibacterial and hygienic properties, greater focus is being applied to how material choices impact indoor air quality, especially in environments where occupant wellbeing is paramount. It is with this in mind that specifiers should consider volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when selecting cubicle and panel systems for healthcare estates.
If not accounted for in the selection process, VOCs can negatively impact air quality and even exacerbate respiratory conditions. This is especially consequential in hospitals and clinics hosting patients with allergies and sensitivities that, if triggered, may impact their convalescence.
As such, decision makers should seek out VOC-specific certifications when selecting panels for changing rooms, bathrooms and washrooms (for example, Eurofin test reports) and ensure any selected surfaces are hypoallergenic. The critical nature of this is further underlined in facilities where service users may be especially vulnerable to environmental factors – paediatric and mental health wards, for example.
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