ABSTRACT
The provision of health services, and therefore the design of hospitals and other health facilities, has long been a politically charged issue which is subject to frequent policy change. A healthcare building includes a large number of functions and activities across a range of healthcare provision services and non- healthcare support services such as laundries, kitchens, supplies and disposal services and estates maintenance facilities. Hospital design is also the subject of a variety of centrally driven design guides and 'agendas' via organisations such as the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Construction Industry Council (CIC). The delivery of healthcare services and the consequent healthcare estate configurations will continue to change. Healthcare buildings have to comply with requirements for fire safety and means of escape: those for hospitals are set out in Firecode published by the Department of Health.
