Hospitals need to be smarter about how they use their resources because of the current social, economic, and healthcare situation. They have to be efficient, perform well, and come up with new ideas to save money without compromising the care they provide to patients.
When hospitals want to make things better, they really need to focus on their surgery rooms. Operation Theatre is the place where many things need to be considered. So, one of the big ways to make them better is by coming up with new and modern designs for these surgery rooms/ Operation Theatres.

DESIGN AND LOCATION OF OPERATING ROOM

The heart of any hospital centre where surgery is performed is a space that needs to be thought out and organised in detail.
The location and flow of patients, staff and materials are the three major players to consider during the design stages of an operating theatre.
In addition to being isolated from the usual and common traffic of the hospital, having a direct access to the hospitalisation units, having communication with the pharmacy units, X-ray and emergency access, the surgical area must have the best ambient and operating table lighting; the right furniture, and a strict efficient air-conditioning system.
We find in them a protection area, with dressing rooms for all the medical staff, rooms for the administrative staff, etc.
A clean area that connects the protection area with the aseptic area and also has other areas such as the cleaning room, equipment storage and others.
The aseptic zone is where the operating rooms – disposal zone is included.
It should also include several sub-areas such as:
⦁ Pre-operative registration or reception area.
⦁ Preparation area.
⦁ Induction or anesthesia room.
⦁ Post-anesthesia care units.
⦁ Facilities for cleaning staff.

In short, and in accordance with the structure that all operating theatres must-have, the aim is to promote a safe environment for the patient and for all the staff in the room.

“The location and flow of patients, staff and materials are the three major players to consider during the design stages of an operating theatre.“
On the other hand, current hospital operating theatres are fundamentally committed to building different and highly differentiated areas within the surgical area.
The first and last objective is to avoid possible contamination and infection of patients using the service, as the greatest source of infection in postoperative wounds is caused by incorrect handling of the spaces shared by medical staff and patients.
Thus, dividing the structure of an operating theatre into three different parts (OT Zoning) reduces and eliminates sources of contamination:
⦁ Protective Area / Black area: This is the first isolation area upon entering the operating theatre. Here the patient is dressed in appropriate surgical clothing. It is the area where patients are received, with semi-restricted access, and where the administration and changing rooms are located.
⦁ Clean Area / Grey area: The clean area where people who are in this area should wear sterile masks and caps. There is movement of beds and hospital staff. Movement is restricted. The pharmacy, storage of surgical instruments, and access areas to operating theatres are located in this zone.
⦁ Sterile Zone White zone: Area of maximum restriction, where the operating theatre and its sterile access corridors are located. Doors must remain closed at all times.
⦁ Disposal Zone: For Infected items and bio-medical Waste transportation.

 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SURGICAL AREA OF THE OPERATING THEATRE

⦁ Surgical areas or operating theatres should be of a double circulation type to allow for proper circulation protocol.
⦁ The design of the clean area of the operating room should be delimited and separated from the others.
⦁ The air system is basic, and positive pressure gradients must be respected.
⦁ A surgical scrub area and a hand-washing sink with an automatically/Foot operated surgical tap must be provided.
⦁ Surgical rooms should be at least 400 square feet in size.
⦁ The floor must be made of semi-conducting materials and connected to earth floor, and care must be taken with the ⦁ electrical installation and its maintenance.
⦁ Doors must be watertight and/or sliding, sliding and automatically operated.
⦁ Walls, ceilings and floors must be covered with materials that have a smooth consistency, without cracks or openings.
⦁ Gaps such as corners, crevices and angles should be avoided.
⦁ They must have the installation of an optimal communication system for emergencies and communications, including telephones, intercoms, buzzers, emergency lights, the computer zone…
⦁ Lighting should be adequate, especially LEDs.

Operating theatre control room operation: key safety devices in supervision
Safety in the operating theatre and operating theatre control room is one of the pillars of its design, necessary for the proper functioning of the interventions, as well as to guarantee their success.
In the design of operating theatres and operating rooms, it is necessary to take into account different elements, devices and equipment that are essential for the good work of the medical staff. Especially those related to the electrical installation, which is one of the most important points in these areas.
Electrical safety in medical facilities, especially in critical hospital areas, is a matter that needs to be considered with the utmost seriousness.
Having a well-designed and comprehensive electrical system in place means taking all possible precautions in advance and thus dealing with the potential complications related to hospital electrical safety.
Protective earthing.
⦁ Equipotential bonding and earthing.
⦁ Differential and overcurrent protection.
⦁ Use of very low safety voltage.
⦁ Supplementary supplies (batteries).
⦁ Transformers, monitors and isolation monitor multi-repeaters.
⦁ Emergency supply unit for surgical lamps.
⦁ IT power supply systems.
⦁ Uninterruptible power supply panel.
⦁ Hospital ground panels and electrical outlets.
⦁ Alarm repeater.

Hybrid OR

From electronic records to angiography, advanced technology is rapidly changing the way medicine is practiced not least in the surgical suite. Hybrid operating rooms (ORs) becoming a trend, where state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment is permanently integrated into the operating room.
Combining technology that’s traditionally housed in the radiology centre of a hospital with the operating room is transforming surgical care. For the first time surgeons can collaborate with pathologists and radiologists during surgery and make assessments using real-time or instantaneous images. It allows surgeons to immediately follow a diagnostic procedure with a therapeutic one. This configuration is also advantageous for surgery patients requiring more than one procedure discipline such as vascular and cardiac during one session.
In identifying space, hospitals — especially those under renovation — must consider that the hybrid suite itself is 1,000 square feet or more, in some cases twice the size of a traditional OR.