Australasian health facility guidelines
Version 4 of the Australasian health facility guidelines (AusHFG) sets out the minimum standards for the design of hospitals and day procedure centres. Any organisation that plans to deviate from these guidelines must identify how its plans vary, and explain why its design will be satisfactory.
Infection control principles
Infection control is a priority in Australian hospitals. The manual that details how to maintain appropriate clinical practice while renovating or building a private hospital or day procedure centre is The Infection control principles for the management of construction, renovation, repair and maintenance within health care facilities - a manual for reducing the risk of health care associated infection by dust and water borne micro-organisms (2nd Edition). It is available on the Institute of Hospital Engineering website.
Hand basin and tapware design guidelines
Facilities must have the correct basin and tapware for each hand wash bay in a given room. The information sheet Hand basins and tapware in private hospitals and day procedure centres provides guidelines on which basin and tapware should be used.
The information sheet explains:
- where to locate clinical hand wash basins
- how many to install (‘hand wash bay ratios’)
- the types of hand wash basins
- gaps in surfaces that allow dust to accumulate
- nurse call buttons being poorly located
- door snibs only being accessible from inside the ensuite.
The heet is based on the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines (Part D - Infection Prevention and Control).