Calls for half of all acute beds to be in single rooms

Half of all beds in acute hospitals should be in single rooms, the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has said.

Currently only about 6 per cent of beds in hospitals in the Republic are in single rooms, a figure which is one of the lowest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In Britain the figure is 17 per cent and the NHS has set a figure of 50 per cent as the optimum target - although it has provided no timeframe for it.

The IHF has said that such a figure could be achievable here and the capital costs involved would be recouped in shorter patients stay, better recovery prospects and improved staff morale.

Last month the IHF launched its Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HfH) programme to improve the standards of care for people who are dying in acute hospitals.

Nearly 40 acute and community hospitals have signed up and the IHF is hoping to improve hospital environments through the "design and dignity" part of its programme.

Currently two-thirds of people die in hospital with 40 per cent dying in acute hospitals.

The IHF believes that people who are dying should have, as a priority, a single room in a hospital and better facilities should be provided for their relatives.

"People should not be departing this world with the sound of trolleys and televisions on in the background," said Mervyn Taylor, the manager of the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme.

"It's not a question of more beds. The fundamental issue is to stop looking at accommodation in terms of beds.

"It is to look at it in terms of rooms. Some rooms will inevitably be shared, but it is how you design those rooms to improve basic privacy which is important.

"Currently we have 21st century medical technology, 20th century work practices, and 19th century building styles in our hospitals.

"We need to think of the hospital of the future to provide a sense of sanctuary at profound moments and a sense of community when it is required too."

The hospice foundation has engaged the services of one of Britain's most respected health architects, Ian Clarke, who has been involved in the design of hospices for 25 years.

His firm's design of the St Oswald's Hospice in Gosforth, Newcastle won the equivalent of the Stirling Prize in 1989, Britain's highest award for architecture - the only medical building to do so.

Mr Clarke is one of the principal architects behind the proposed Mary Mount Hospice in Cork which went for planning permission last month. It will have 44 residents, all in single rooms.

Mr Clarke's public lecture on hospice design and how it might influence the future design of hospitals last night stressed that the costs involved in the provision of single rooms, better facilities for relatives and better architectural design could be recouped within two years.

Mr Clarke hopes to tour the hospitals around the State that have signed up to the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme to see how they can improve their environments.

"We know that the costs of staff are between 50 and 100 times and the cost of running a hospital is five times the initial building costs over its lifetime. It makes sense to get the build right first time," he said.

"Good design does not have some fluffy, intangible connotations. Investment in bricks and mortar has real tangible benefits in terms of patient care," he added.