Ensuring a safe environment for patients and staff in COVID-19 health-care facilities: a module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Overview

Use and content

Countries can use the Ensuring a safe environment for patients and staff in COVID‑19 health-care facilities assessment tool to assess and monitor the structural capacities of facilities to: (i) allow safe COVID‑19 case management; (ii) continue to deliver essential services; and (iii) enable surge planning. Collecting this information provides guidance for immediate action and resolution of identified gaps. It is relevant for preparedness and readiness, as well as for evaluations during the response and, in particular, at any time the epidemiological situation requires further modifications/repurposing of the health-care facility structure and flows.

This assessment tool covers the following aspects:

• area distribution;
• surface availability versus foreseen occupancy rate;
• patient and staff flows;
• ventilation requirement per specific areas;
• visitors’ area and visitor flow; and
• surge capacity.

  Target audiences

  This tool is intended for:

• facility managers;
• technical officers;
• logisticians;
• water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) specialists; and
• health-care facility engineers and architects.

Key questions this module helps to answer

Does the facility provide a safe environment with adequate engineering and administrative controls to promote safe patient care for COVID‑19 and protect the health and well-being of the staff?

When to use

This module can be used from the early stages of emergency to early recovery and every time the epidemiological situation requires structural or flow changes.