Patient and paediatric bedrooms, birthing suites and staff stations are among new prototype rooms that have been developed to replicate key spaces planned for hospitals being delivered by Health Infrastructure.
Prototype rooms allow staff to test and adapt the layout and design of vital spaces before they are built to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and allow for simulation and training in the new and improved working environments.
Testing of prototype spaces has been underway at the $835 million John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct in Newcastle, and for the two new hospital buildings at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick.
The lived experiences of patients, carers, and clinicians have played a vital role in informing the design of the prototype rooms.
For the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct, more than 500 interviews and workshops with staff, community, architects, patients, and carers have guided the functional design of the prototype rooms which will be close replicas of those in the new seven-storey acute services building.
The prototype spaces at Westmead and Randwick have been viewed by clinical staff and hospital families, who have provided valuable feedback about the layout and functionality of the rooms.
Included among the paediatric facilities are new individual neonatal intensive care units for mothers and babies, individual patient rooms with space for a parent or caregiver to stay with their child and Positive Pressure Ventilation Anterooms, designed to better protect and support immunocompromised children.
The Prototype rooms are delivered by Health Infrastructure in collaboration with delivery partners for each respective project.