To be compliant in the healthcare sector, you need to know exactly the type of setting you’re working in. In healthcare environments, it’s not as simple as a one-size-fits-all approach, so we need to get to grips with the various clinical and non-clinical categories.
1. Clinical Dry
Clinical Dry includes single-bed and multi-bed wards, consulting rooms, and clean utility spaces. Hand-washbasins in these areas need to be clinical in nature, meaning the waste outlet should be at the rear wall of the basin bowl.
To keep surfaces easy to clean and sanitise, all waste and service pipes need to be concealed behind an IPS Duct set. The tap will also need to be wall- or panel-mounted, and sites are encouraged to have a water outlet that has an inbuilt thermostatic TMV3 mixer valve. These taps also need to be operated by elbows. The Ideal Standard Markwik 21+ panel-mounted mixer is a solid choice in the environment, but there are many other medical taps on the market.
Similarly, the Contour 21+ Back Outlet Basin is highly recommended, as it features an antibacterial glaze with ionic silver, a known inhabitant to bacterial growth. It also features Smart Guard Plus, which creates a glass-like smooth finish that makes it hydrophilic and water-repellent. This washbasin also features a Hydrofin cover in the bowl, reducing splashback by 96% and improving flow dynamics in the basin.
In the clean utility spaces, we also see the need for a stainless-steel hospital sink without an overflow. Panel-mounted bib taps are used with this sink, and you will find a few variations of sink-and-drainer combinations, including double sink and one drainer, single sink and double drainer, and single sink and single drainer.
2. Clinical Wet
The Clinical Wet category of rooms includes assisted showers, assisted washrooms and what is known as dirty utility.
In a dirty utility space, you will require the same back outlet clinical sink with a panel-mounted mixer, as well as a sluice sink - also referred to as a slop hopper. Sluice sinks are for disposing of heavier bedpan waste and vomit, taking in a wider four-inch waste pipe. Several options are available, all of a stainless steel structure. In addition to a hopper for waste disposal, you will find options with sink-and-drainer combinations, allowing medical staff to perform procedures efficiently and maintain thorough hygiene standards. For further specifications, explore the Ideal Standard Dee, Stirling and Leven slop hoppers.
In the assisted bathrooms and WC spaces, the specification is based around an ambulant disabled washroom. A toilet pan with a 700mm depth is the most commonly used option, along with a 400mm-wide x 300mm-deep washbasin and panel-mounted taps. In all clinical environments, it’s important to minimise exposed surface area, grooves, and join lines as much as possible. This makes the room easy to deep clean and sanitise, but also limits areas where bacteria can build up. The idea is to create the most hygienic space possible.
Increasingly, we are seeing IPS panels becoming the standard in all healthcare environments for this very reason: they conceal all services and waste pipes. For example, the Healthcare Basin IPS Unit with Markwik 21+ Pressure Balancing Valve (PVB) Tap is an ideal solution for healthcare environments.
Finally, assisted shower spaces demand a dished flooring with a flush floor drain outlet. This is to prevent users from tripping over a lip and to allow full wheelchair access. You will also need a shower seat, grab rails, and shower controls with a TMV3 thermostatic mixing valve to remove the risk of scalding.
3. Clinical specialist
The main one to focus on here is the theatre suites, which all require a scrub up. This stainless steel wash trough is designed solely for surgeons and nurses to wash their hands and forearms under running water. Guidance here is for a sensor tap that also carries a TMV3 valve, allowing the water flow time to be adjusted. The Armitage Shanks Markwik 21+ mixer allows you to adjust the flow time in one-minute increments.
Sometimes in this area, you may also encounter plaster sinks, which feature a sieve-like mechanism to prevent plaster from going down the waste pipe.
4. Non-clinical wet
As a rule of thumb, when we use the word ‘clinical’, we mean that medical professionals are working in these areas; when we refer to non-clinical spaces, this is an area where patients and visitors are likely to use the facilities independently.
Non-clinical wet areas include toilets, shower rooms, and en-suites. We see many of the same criteria for shower rooms, floors, controls, and grab rails, along with the 700mm-deep toilet pan, which must be rimless. One of the main considerations to make here is that of patients who, although they may not suffer from a permanent disability, might actually be suffering from impaired mobility of some sort - either before or post-treatment. Therefore, grab rails and accessibility are of utmost concern. Sensor activation is encouraged in this environment, though large lever flush controls are used widely in this area.
Under the category of non-clinical wet, we also have the cleaners' room, which usually requires a janitorial unit, an all in one option that features a bucket sink and washbasin fed by wall or panel mounted bib taps.
5. Non-clinical dry
As we finally reach non-clinical dry areas, we are mainly focusing on washrooms in our supporting office spaces and storerooms. For the most part, these washrooms follow a standard commercial washroom specification, with a focus on anti-slip flooring, TMV3 mixer valves on the water outlets, and IPS panels are still preferred in these areas, allowing maximum efficiency for cleaning and overall hygiene.
If you would like further advice on healthcare sector washroom environments, or to talk with one of the team, get in touch on 01202 650900.
