Efficiency in the workplace: why automatic doors are good for hospitals

Hospitals are fast-paced environments that see a heavy daily footfall. Time matters in hospitals, as too does accessibility. Thinking about how people access and move around the building is essential for hospital managers.

Automatic hospital doors will frequently play a key role in ensuring accessibility in hospitals. What makes automation such a good idea for hospital doors and how can they aid efficiency in the workplace?

Improving accessibility

Hospitals see a large footfall every day. Catering to a wide range of individuals, many visitors to hospitals have mobility issues that prove challenging. From wheelchair users to elderly patients using walking aids, ensuring accessibility is a key priority for hospital managers. Automatic doors reduce the barriers to entry and support freer movement within hospital buildings.

Healthcare professionals also need to be able to move quickly. Ambulance response teams will often need to transport a patient inside the hospital as fast as possible to access treatment. Automatic doors speed up this process, giving them extra seconds that can often prove vital.

Manual operating hospital doors can also slow down the workflow in non-emergency situations.

Better hygiene and infection control

Infection control is of the utmost importance in any healthcare setting. With thousands of people passing through hospital entrances daily, the risk of contamination is high. Doors are a common infection point with manual hospital doors requiring physical contact. This increases the risk of the spread of bacteria and viruses. Automatic hospital doors offer a touch-free solution to reduce the risk of infections being transmitted, such as MRSA or COVID-19.

Automatic doors, particularly those with elbow-activated controls or motion sensors, support strict hygiene protocols across the hospital, from patient rooms to operating theatres, and isolation wards.

Energy efficiency

Hospitals have to operate within strict budgetary constraints. Rising energy bills place an extra burden on those budgets, so hospital managers have to find ways to reduce energy consumption. Automatic hospital doors contribute to greater energy efficiency by minimising the amount of heat lost during the cooler months, while retaining cool air inside during summer.

Manually operated hospital doors may be left ajar, allowing for heat or cooler air to escape. Automatic doors close promptly after use. Many automatic doors incorporate smart sensors that can adjust the closing and opening speeds based on foot traffic. Over time, this can lead to substantial cost savings on a hospital’s energy bills.

Improved security and safety

Hospitals need to be secure spaces, particularly in sensitive areas such as intensive care units, maternity wards, and restricted staff areas. Access control systems can be integrated with automatic doors to ensure that only authorised people can access specific areas. This helps to ensure that patients, staff, and sensitive medical materials and records are protected.

Automatic hospital doors will frequently incorporate additional safety mechanisms, such as motion sensors and obstruction detection systems. These help to prevent accidents by ensuring that doors are unable to close on individuals or objects, reducing the risk of injury.

Regulatory compliance

As public buildings, hospitals are required to comply with stringent building and accessibility regulations. The 2010 Equality Act requires public buildings, including hospitals, to provide accessible entry points for individuals with disabilities. Automatic doors help healthcare settings meet this legal requirement while ensuring greater inclusivity for all patients and staff.

Fire safety regulations will often require hospitals to have automatic fire doors that close immediately in case of an emergency.  This is crucial for containing the spread of fire and smoke throughout the building, and safeguarding lives within the hospital.

Patient and visitor satisfaction

Hospital visits can be stressful for patients and their loved ones. The hospital environment should be as welcoming as possible for visitors, helping to ensure that any visit is as stress free as possible. Automatic doors can remove a potential stress point particularly if a patient or their loved one has mobility challenges.

Automatic hospital doors are a small detail but make a big difference to the overall experience someone has when visiting a hospital.

Reducing noise pollution

Hospitals can often be noisy environments, with conversation, medical equipment being transported or in use, and constant movement in, out, and around the building. Manual hospital doors may slam shut or require forceful opening, contributing to noise levels. Doors that repeatedly slam shut can quickly become a noise nuisance to staff working and patients being treated nearby. This can be particularly problematic for anyone recovering from serious ill health or surgery, or who may be in intensive care. For staff, the noise can be distracting, reducing efficiency and overall work satisfaction.

Automatic doors have an almost silent operation, helping to reduce overall noise levels in the building. This helps to create a more comfortable and calmer environment for patients and staff.

Professional automatic door installation from Safetell

At Safetell, we’ve provided efficient automatic door installations for a diverse range of projects across different sectors.

With 100’s of installations successfully completed, we are able to use our experience and expertise to benefit our customers. Working with hospitals and other health care settings, we can ensure you have efficient doors that enable access while supporting security.

Our experienced team can answer your questions and provide you with a detailed quote.

Contact us to find out more about our services.