The administration of a £1 million research budget focused on developing international best practice in the built environment for healthcare has been awarded by NHS Scotland Assure to Edinburgh Napier University.
The fund was launched on April 1, 2022 and is open to all researchers who want to collaborate to find safe healthcare environments that are free of avoidable risk.
NHS Scotland Assure is designed to improve risk management in the built environment of Scotland. It gives greater confidence to stakeholders. A key focus is to create opportunities for multidisciplinary working within the healthcare-built environment.
This fund will provide opportunities for the exploration of developing a consortium of disciplines that delivers research in line to the identified needs of NHS Scotland Assure. This service will share best practices case studies in standards, models, and other aspects of the built environment.
Healthcare is delivered in buildings and environments that are safe and resilient.
NHS Scotland Assure provides guidance and advice to help ensure that patients, carers, and healthcare professionals are in a safe and effective environment. This is where research plays a crucial role. It ensures that guidance and advice are not only based on best practice, but also on the best evidence.
It will also ensure that the most up-to-date and robust research is translated into practice to improve future health outcomes.
The research programme will be focused on eight healthcare environments over the next two-years.
- Water systems, including drainage (Design and Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance (DICM).
- Ventilation systems (DICM).
- The microbiome, pathogens, Antimicrobial Resistance, Transmission Risks and the burden of disease in the hospital environment
- Hospital design, including size and single-room provision
- Lessons from Covid-19
- Human factors/Ergonomics and Prevention and Control of Infections
- Climate change risks and the unintended consequences
- Safety and harms in relation medical gases, electrical systems, and fire safety.
July 2022 will be the closing date for the first round funding applications based on research that meets one or more of these eight themes.
Professor Nick Antonopoulos, Vice Principal, Research & Innovation, Edinburgh Napier University, said: “We are very excited to announce this award, which is a good fit for the University’s experience and ongoing strategy, and reflects our commitment to develop our well-established research and teaching expertise in health and wellbeing.
“The success of the fund will be a priority for our Schools of Applied Sciences and Engineering & the Built Environment, and the University’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise department, who will all play their part in supporting the research programme.”
The Research Service at Edinburgh Napier will also be running regular events over the next two years, to nurture an inclusive approach between professional roles within the built environment and across infection prevention & control (IP&C); healthcare providers; academia; and research institutions.
Additional information and the relevant pro formas can be found here Here.
