07/12/2017
Building a clean green and nice healthcare centre is vital to improve the quality of healthcare services provided to patients. Therefore, waste management, provision for clean water and planting of trees at the healthcare centre are expected to prevent and minimize the environmental pollution and protect the health of employees, staff, patients and their relatives. This is a meaningful activity, as there are still limitations to sanitation and environment protection at healthcare centres in Việt Nam.
Building a clean green and nice healthcare centre is vital to improve the quality of healthcare services provided to patients. Therefore, waste management, provision for clean water and planting of trees at the healthcare centre are expected to prevent and minimize the environmental pollution and protect the health of employees, staff, patients and their relatives. This is a meaningful activity, as there are still limitations to sanitation and environment protection at healthcare centres in Việt Nam.
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| Workshop on training and sharing practices about development of green, clean and nice healthcare centres |
Building clean, green and nice healthcare centres
In recent years, the State and the Government have made investments to improve the infrastructure, facility, sanitation and medical waste treatment systems for healthcare centres. However, many centres, especially hospitals at local areas, have not met the standards set by the Health Ministry on environment and sanitation protection and medical waste treatment.
In order to help healthcare centres improve their capabilities of environment protection and medical waste treatment, improve the quality of healthcare services and protect the health of people, the Ministry of Health on July 15, 2016, issued Decision 3638/QD-BYT to approve the action plan on green, clean and nice healthcare centres. To implement the plan effectively, the ministry also issued Decision 6573/QD-BYT regulating instructions for healthcare centres to make their places green, clean and nice. In addition, the decisions aim to help Government agencies inspect and examine the implementation of the plan at healthcare centres and work with patients and their relatives to monitor the implementation of the plan.
Criteria to evaluate a clean, green and nice healthcare centre
In order to be recognized as a green, clean, nice and environment-friendly healthcare centre, the centre must obtain the criteria as follows:
Green: The healthcare centre must increase the number of plants and trees inside the area of the centre every year; locate potted plants and flowerpots around consulting rooms, halls, waiting rooms and stairs. Potted plants and flowerpots must be regularly pruned and taken care of to make the environment green and clean.
Clean: The healthcare centre must assure there is sufficient hygienic and safe food and drinks. Each department/room at the centre must have a private lavatory for patients, their relatives and staff. The lavatory must be clean and provided with toilet paper and soap. The rooms/departments, patient rooms, lavatories and halls must be ventilated, lightened and equipped with trash cans.
Medical waste treatment: The healthcare centre must classify the types of medical wastes, and have sufficient bags and cans to dispose them. There must be a storehouse for medical wastes at the healthcare centre. The centre must also ensure that solid medical wastes are collected, transferred and processed in accordance with the regulations. The waste water treatment system must be sealed, and the waste water must be processed by a standardized system.
Nice and environment-friendly: The healthcare centre must be equipped with seats for patients and relatives. There must be pictures, photos, books, newspapers and other media publications on healthcare and environment protection. Ceilings, walls, gates, doors halls and stairs must be re-painted regularly; blankets, pillows and clothes for patients, as well as beds and closets in the rooms and departments must be clean and well-arranged. Staff, patients and relatives must wear medical outfits that are allowed at the healthcare centre.
Among the criteria above, the “clean” and “medical waste treatment” items have been set as the focus for healthcare centres, so that they can minimize the risks of contamination at the centre and ensure a clean environment for patients to recover. In addition, the “green” and “nice” items will make patients, relatives, the staff and the community pleased with the environment at the centre. Therefore, it is easy to see that a clean, green and nice environment is one of the main criteria to ensure patients' satisfaction with the quality of healthcare centres.
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| Healthcare staff plant trees to make the environment green, clean and nice |
Implementation of the plan
The Health Environment Management Agency has closely worked with other Government agencies to develop training materials on green, clean and nice environment for healthcare centres. In the future, the agency will enhance the inspection and supervision of the plan implementation to commend and reward those that implement the plan strictly and punish those that violate the plan. The implementation of the plan will be funded from the State budget, donations and other sources from the community.
In addition, the agency will increase the dissemination of clean, green and nice environment in various media forms, so that healthcare centres realize that creating a nice, green and clean environment is necessary and relevant for their development. Healthcare centres must explain to patients and relatives their roles and responsibilities in developing a green, clean and nice environment. More importantly, healthcare centres must study the plan carefully to develop their own action plans at their own places.
Nguyễn Thị Liên Hương - Director
Health Environment Management Agency - Ministry of Health
