Rethinking Day Surgery Model of Care and Built Environment: A Design Dialogue Study

Day surgery is an expanding service, yet in many cases the current built environment is based on the general surgical department, with access to day bed wards and has changed very little since 1950s in the UK. In Dec 2019 a one-day workshop was organised to investigate the future concept for day surgery services and to explore the spatial provi-sions. The event consisted of a range of stakeholders from government, practice and aca-demia involved in healthcare environments. A design dialogue methodology was imple-mented, exploring the ‘ideal model of care’ through a series of activities using word, image and free association from user experiences. A design game, using tangible materials, let the participants develop and build visual proposals of new surgical environments. The workshop outcome was further processed through identification, sorting and coding of key themes for improvement, such as; user experience, logistics, adaptable design, after-care and recovery. By defining high and low parameters of patient experiences, a number of topics were discussed, including social community systems, information awareness, safety and wellbeing, continuity of patient pathways as well as efficiency and effectiveness of staff. The final design game combined the themes and topics and further deepened the in-sights. The use of a variety of design dialogue methods combined perspectives and knowledge and the workshop clearly identified the value and impact of interdisciplinary collabora-tion to deliberate and explore ideas for future healthcare facilities.