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The new Tyks Lighthouse Hospital in Turku, Finland, will receive its first patients at the start of 2022. Focus on patients is one of the principal values of the hospital and its translation into practice is ensured through functional planning and multiprofessional collaboration.
Tyks Lighthouse Hospital will house services that are currently located in Tyks U-Hospital, including the departments of obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and adolescent medicine, ear, nose and throat diseases, as well as oral and maxillofacial diseases. The new hospital will also accommodate medical support services, such as an imaging unit and instrument management.
"The construction of a large hospital is a long process with multiple stages. The functional planning of Tyks Lighthouse Hospital started in 2011 with the outlining of the big picture. We estimated, for example, the development of population and birth rates, how various treatments will be arranged in the future, and what patient groups will be treated at the hospital once it is operational," explains Annika Lindblom, Hospital Planner at Turku University Hospital, who is in charge of coordinating the functional planning.
"The principal values for Tyks Lighthouse Hospital include a customer-oriented approach, family-centred care and patient safety. By means of functional planning, we can make sure that the values are not just empty words but they are a concrete part of the daily operations of the hospital, the quality of service and patient experiences," says Lindblom.
Operational efficiency allows more time for patients
In the context of nursing, efforts to make operations more streamlined or efficient can easily sound uncompassionate, even though it couldn’t be further from the truth. At Tyks Lighthouse Hospital, increased operational efficiency is aimed at providing the nursing staff with more time to interact with patients, which is the essence of their work.
The participation of the staff members in the planning of the new hospital is a crucial element, since they know best where potential issues lie.
‘Doctors, nurses and other staff are involved in the functional planning. They will see to it that our principal values are taken into consideration at all phases of planning. Their contribution is of vital importance.’
Clinical consulting services offered by Ascom have been an invaluable part of the planning and implementation of our communication systems...without a background in nursing, it is difficult to understand the hospital routines and the requirements of nursing work.
