Environmental friendly hospitals create safe atmosphere for patients

Green spaces at Phú Thọ Provincial Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

PHÚ THỌ — The provincial Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital and the Thanh Sơn District Medical Centre are two pioneering units in the northern province of Phú Thọ, building a safe, friendly and sustainable medical examination and treatment environment.

After more than three years of implementing the Ministry of Health’s Decision 5959 on building clean and green medical facilities, Phú Thọ Province is one of the two leading localities in the north in achieving 32 criteria for landscape improvement, environmental sanitation and waste management across their facilities.

Green places

The Thanh Sơn District Medical Centre has a 500 bed capacity.

In recent years, it has become renowned for being a cool, fresh and pleasant green space for patients and their families, when coming to receive treatment.

A green tree system is harmoniously arranged as part of a medical campus with the addition of carefully tended potted plants hung and placed in different areas such as corridors, examination and treatment areas, as well as in the waiting rooms.

The Director of the centre, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hoa, said that it was now a modern, friendly and close-to-nature medical space, which was continuously being evaluated in order to meet all the criteria for a green, clean and beautiful centre.

Each year, the centre's trade union launches a campaign to build a clean and green landscape and awards high-value prizes.

This has encouraged, motivated and heightened awareness among staff about taking care of trees, as well as making many beautiful and meaningful natural corners.

"The hospital environment is quite special. If the surrounding area is all concrete, both medical staff and patients will feel very tired. That is why the centre's leaders in all wards focus on investing in, caring for, maintaining and placing trees appropriately, creating a friendly space. Patients can breathe fresh air, which also supports treatment," said Hoa.

In terms of professional work, Hoa emphasised the use of electronic medical records to help manage information quickly and to minimise medical waste.

The Head of the General Planning Division, Nguyễn Hữu Hoàng, said that in the past, a paper medical record could be up to 50-60 sheets of paper per patient.

But since the centre started migrating to electronic medical records, that had fallen to just four or five sheets.

Each year, the inpatient ward treats about 22,000 patients. If all of them used paper medical records, the amount of printed paper would be up to 1.1 million sheets.

The Thanh Sơn Medical Centre is also a pioneer in waste classification by contracting with plastic waste collection and treatment units.

For many years, medical staff in all wards have used glass bottles for drinking water.

In the treatment area, each floor has a hot and cold water dispenser to serve patients and their families.

To continue to build a green and sustainable medical facility, the centre will increase energy efficiency and use renewable energy.

It will use LED lighting systems, reduce energy consumption and invest in solar energy systems to reduce dependence on fossil energy sources.

Solar energy system

Various trees are flourishing at the Thanh Sơn District Medical Centre. — Photo courtesy of the centre

At the Phú Thọ Provincial Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital, Bùi Trọng Quỳnh, Deputy Director of the hospital, said that all wards had green tree systems which were arranged appropriately.

The flower garden and ornamental plants in the campus are nurtured to ensure a cool green working space for doctors and nurses and allow patients maximum comfort.

The hospital buildings have a total construction area of ​​7,900 square metres, while allocating more than 17,400 square metres for trees and gardens.

Since its establishment, the hospital has determined to work according to a hospital-hotel model, ensuring criteria of bright-green-clean-beautiful spaces, to improve the quality of maternal and child health care in Phú Thọ Province, as well as other provinces in the northwest region.

Quỳnh said that staff members, patients and their families were all invested in keeping the hospital clean and fresh, with a healthy atmosphere, ensuring high quality and effective care, promoting a good and sustainable medical facility.

It is noteworthy that the hospital invested in a solar energy system right from the start.

Deputy Head of the Administration Division, Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, said that the hospital's solar energy system provided 70 cubic metres of hot water per day and the system was distributed to all wards, aiming for sustainability and high efficiency.

Each year, the hospital saves more than VNĐ1 billion (US$39,300) thanks to solar energy.

The hospital also deployed an electronic medical record system right after its foundation.

Currently, medical units are gradually shifting from X-rays to digital images, holding them in a virtual medical storage area.

It is a big step forward in reducing film – plastic waste, minimising ink and printing papers.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health (MoH) show that Việt Nam has nearly 1,500 public hospitals, more than 380 private hospitals and nearly 70,000 private clinics.

According to the requirements in the MoH’s Circular 46/2018, by the end of last year, all grade-one hospitals must deploy electronic medical records.

To date, only just over 100 hospitals are using these types of medical records, including 30 grade-one hospitals.

Head of the Division of Medical Environment Management under the MoH’s Department of Medical Environment Management, Phan Thị Lý, said that to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, the green - clean - beautiful hospital drive was being realised in many medical facilities across the country.

In Phú Thọ Province, the provincial Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital and the Thanh Sơn District Medical Centre were two pioneering units, outstanding in building a safe, friendly and sustainable medical examination and treatment environment.

In the future, it is hoped that the models can be replicated nationwide to enhance the quality of medical services and improve comprehensive health for the people. — VNS