The Effects of Space Planning in General Hospital Building Wards in Nigeria: A Review

Abstract

Public hospital buildings are among the most complicated constructions, necessitating careful space planning to guarantee that they fulfil their objectives of healing, rehabilitation, and convenience for both patients and carers. The most prevalent issue with hospital space management has been sustainable space utilisation in indoor hospital facilities. It has been observed that there has been an increase of facilities and capacity despite inadequate spatial planning, which has a detrimental influence on users and lessens the healing effect. The study examines the adequacy of space planning in Nigeria hospitals and its effect on the users towards improving hospital user’s well-being. This research's objective is to inquire into the various space planning strategies that can be used to help generate environmentally friendly and sustainable hospital planning wards. The research used a secondary data gathering technique, which includes a thorough examination and analysis of scientific literature from Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. The study identifies many factors that must be addressed in order to create a paradigm shift towards effective space planning and an adequate hospital environment in Nigeria. The study conclude that bad space planning in hospital architecture reflects the hospital system's diminishing improvement of patients and other healthcare users. The study's implication is improved availability and accessibility of facilities by users to satisfy the demands of patients. It recommends the use of effective space planning strategies from the design stage to incorporate the actual spaces required to accommodate the equipment and offer necessary services, as well as to anticipate future development in relation to population growth.