Abstract

Personnel-centred study for advancing the quality of hospital care
This study explores an experimental personnel-centred approach for improving healthcare. The research investigates medical staff routine and movement tendencies in healthcare facilities to identify critical areas of hospital spatial organisation and circulation. Investigating and taking into consideration personnel perspective is of the highest importance to enhancing the quality of healthcare for both carers and patients.

The ongoing research has essential meaning for the Greater Poland region, where there are 60 general hospitals and 45 public hospitals functioning. Among 3,484,975 citizens of the region, there are 11,000 doctors and twice as many nurses employed. It can be observed from open government data that there are only 32 employed doctors and 13 nurses for every 10,000 citizens, while the total number of citizens in the Poznan agglomeration is 647,018. The above presented parameters are the motivation for focusing research on the quality of medical carers’ work.

With an ageing population and a lack of medical carers, demand for healthcare services increases. Better and more innovative equipment for personnel is considered to relieve carers from unnecessary activities and let them focus on the most important tasks. To enhance human experience, both for medical staff and patients, technological innovation needs to be optimised.

Mixed methods research has been undertaken to compare both quantitative and qualitative data. The collected information through surveys was juxtaposed with a map of medical staff movements in healthcare facilities. The data was evaluated in a relation to legislative guidelines. The analysis of this multi-criteria methodology allows evaluation of functional connection qualities in hospital and establishes the basis of modernisations (post-occupancy evaluation for hospitals). Staff perspective is crucial to optimally design their work environment. Since staff wellness matters for patient care, hospitals should positively support their wellbeing and work by increasing their productivity and reducing risks, including medical errors. Spatial organisation and its efficiency plays a significant role in advancing care quality, patient satisfaction and overall hospital performance.