When you are buying and fitting out a practice, space is at an absolute premium. Sometimes in response to this premium in space, practitioners seek a fitout resembling M.C Escher’s “Relativity” (Pictured above). An impractical medical fitout hinders the practical nature of the practice, the aesthetic, and most importantly, the patient's journey. In this blog post, I will be covering space and some of the considerations for practitioners when approaching their medical fitout.
Patient’s Space
One of the key focuses when we complete a fitout is the patient’s journey when they are acquiring the health services of a practitioner. Therefore, considering their space in the practice is essential to them returning as a patient. Such considerations include the patient seating area, which in some practices I have attended have resembled a desert due to its sparse nature. These spaces need to be looked at from both a functional and aesthetic perspective. The question I generally pose to practitioners to illustrate the importance of the patient space is if my doctor was running late, would I be happy sitting in this space for an extra half an hour, or am I going to be walking out in a hissy fit due to a complete lack of stimulation and overwhelming boredom?
Practitioner’s Space
The practitioner’s space is just as important to the practitioner as it is to the patient’s experience and journey. The long time relationship of a doctor on one side of a desk and a patient on the other with a computer screen blocking communications is an antiquated one that is immeasurably detrimental to the patient’s experience and journey in the practice. During our dealings with practitioners, we are happily seeing an acceptance for alternative working spaces that utilise storage solutions and general desk setups with a view to functionality and the patient’s overall experience.
Free Space
As much as space is a premium, not every inch of space needs to be inhabited with things. I have experienced first-hand the negatives of trying to fill every space with stuff. I had an injured ankle and was wheelchair-bound with a nurse pushing me and hidden around the hallway corner was a poorly placed pot plant. Injured ankle + poorly placed pot plant = an unhappy patient. All space needs to be well considered with a mix of functionality and aesthetics and the poor patient's ankle in mind.
Conclusion
I don’t think anyone is under any illusion that space costs a premium. Thus the medical fitout needs to make full use of the whole space, with a view to function, aesthetic and bravery to leave some space strategically empty. So my overall advice is to make sure you have a good team behind you to ensure that you get more bang for your buck from every inch of your practices' space.