Evaluation of surgical units in terms of legislation and design criteria

Legislation on several aspects of health care is constantly updated in order to provide better services. While hospitals have various specialized areas, the updates on health care space design, construction and inspection do not develop in a systematic framework, thus they cause various conflicts for designers, implementers and supervisors. Especially the design and implementation of surgical units impact surgical site infections, yet no current legislation collects all of their required features. In this context, this study aims to unify the the complex and conflicting rules under an audit form for application in a surgical unit. The proposed form details the factors that affect its design according to current legislation and groups the factors under four main headings; 1. Spatial Organization relates its relationship to other units within a hospital, 2. Organization of Surgical Unit considers the necessary spaces, their sizes and their relationship to each other, 3. Material Properties deals with the selection and application of finishing materials, 4. Properties regarding Facilities covers technical requirements such as HVAC and lighting. The form is applied to three hospitals in İzmir, Turkey to show and discuss its applicability. In conclusion, the utilization of such a form would be the first step in both elimination of unclear situations and creation of a data system to help other professionals with future decision making.