The Annual Healthcare Estates Conference at Manchester Central featured a talk by Minima Design Director Nick Field.  Healthcare Estates is the UK’s largest gathering for organisations involved in the commissioning, design and operation of healthcare facilities. In 2010 over 1400 delegates and visitors attended.

The event is organised by The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management. Under the conference theme ‘ Clean, Lean, Safe, Green,’ the presentation showed how the battle against Healthcare Aquired Infections (HcAIs) has raised hygienic cleaning up the list of design priorities for products intended for both medical and public environments.

The design of equipment and services for the healthcare sector are most likely to focus on their specific function, cost and usability.  It is only fairly recently that, among other influences, cleanliness, specific to the prevention of HcAIs has been included on the list of the most important factors on which development projects are judged.  As cleanliness becomes established as a primary factor for customers, it offers new inspiration into the design process and so the potential for new innovation.