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Resilience strategies of healthcare facilities: present and future

Nebil Achour (Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK)
Andrew D.F. Price (Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK)

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment

ISSN: 1759-5908

Article publication date: 1 October 2010

1566

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore UK healthcare resilience strategies, define gaps and provide suggestions based on international best practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a pluralistic qualitative research approach to achieve its purpose including: research papers, governmental and non‐governmental reports, code and guidance documents and databases. In addition, two case studies were visited in May 2009: the first was one of the major hospitals in the UK; and the second is a major health facility located at the south of Taiwan. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with the hospitals responsible and/or emergency officers to clarify the strategies setup to respond to emergencies.

Findings

The results show that despite the “robust” emergency planning in the UK, many issues could have been avoided if international experience was reviewed carefully. This is due to the failure of not working closer with multi‐disciplinary experts, who provide technical and tactical help and lessons learned from international best practices, in addition to limiting accessibility of experts to information. The study also suggests that climate change must be addressed comprehensively through fusing resilience and sustainability strategies into a more comprehensive strategy of adaptation.

Originality/value

The paper provides a significant contribution in terms of reducing the fragmentation of healthcare resilience‐related work done previously; constructive criticism of UK healthcare resilience strategies and evidence of better practice from local and international facilities which will help in enhancing the resilience of healthcare facilities in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

Keywords

Citation

Achour, N. and Price, A.D.F. (2010), "Resilience strategies of healthcare facilities: present and future", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 264-276. https://doi.org/10.1108/17595901011080869

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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