Investment of €12m in an Intensive Care Unit

24th Apr 2014

“The 12-bed unit is at the forefront of current Critical Care developments  and supports the hospital’s high tech surgical and medical teams, particularly in Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery.

The new environment is purpose built to the highest of standards. Features include opaque glass, sliding doors and walls.

All bed spaces are individual with pendant technology and all equipment required is suspended from the ceiling resulting in a transformed working environment for the ICU team. This is hugely beneficial to the patient where they can be treated in an atmosphere best suited to optimise recovery.

Each patient also has there own 40 inch flat screen TV, and while many patients within the ICU do not require television, some patients will benefit from this distraction at a difficult time.

From the ICU nurse perspective the advantages of nursing a patient in the new ICU are numerous but they include better use of space, all stock required for the care of the patient is now housed within the bed space. Having the patient central within that space enables easy access and puts the patient’s needs at the heart of the delivery of care.

The new ICU unit complies with the UK Health Technical Memoranda (HTM) which sets healthcare specific standards for the design and operation of engineering services, such as medical gas installations and fire safety requirements. Such standards prevent for example cross contamination of air between cubicles.

The brightness of the unit is a distinct advantage, as light floods the department from every angle. Studies have shown that this assists patient recovery.

The Intensive Care Unit was featured recently in edition AI 279 of “Architecture Ireland” which focused on healthcare. With thanks to the Editor, you can read the article here. AI279 Architecture Ireland