The Architecture of Isolation 8 - The French Connection

"A 1000 sick should be spread like a village"

In his Manual of Practical Hygiene, Parkes makes the precise point that control of HAIs and the well-being of patients is achieved through careful positioning, suitable layout of hospitals and effective management. 

So it is more than just a question of building well. In the chapter on Hospitals - How is perfect purity of air to be secured, he remarks that the provision of clean air is “....a matter partly of construction, partly of superintendence”.

“A 1000 sick should be spread like a village,” he remarked. Pointing out the need for space and that bigger is not always better when it comes to hospital buildings.

So let’s think this through using the sad, sad topic of nursing home Covid deaths. At the end of December two years ago, we showed that in 25 countries, care home deaths were, on average, 30% of the total COVID-19 deaths (range: 9-64%). Seventeen cohort studies we looked at pointed to excess mortality worsening during the pandemic, with excess mortality being reported for both …