Enhancing the role of facilities management in the fight against the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in developing countries’ public hospitals

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present a review of the current COVID-19 pandemic with particular emphasis on developing countries in Africa. It aims to demonstrate how facilities management (FM) services delivery in public hospitals can be improved for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper embraces a review of current literature on COVID-19 and FM together with credible media updates. The paper critically synthesizes knowledge on the pandemic to position a technical view on how FM can be improved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented challenges and realities to the health-care system of most African countries. Despite the significant efforts being made by various governments, there appears to be a lack of a coherent and strategic FM plan to fight the pandemic. To create the necessary antivirus built environment, actionable and timely FM interventions are needed. Research limitations/implications The report herein is case guarded, based on the prevailing data and information as at the time of writing the paper. Nevertheless, the recommendations from the paper are useful for a worse future trajectory of the pandemic. Practical implications Knowledge of the proposed interventions will inform and assist health-care facilities managers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value The paper presents the first step towards encapsulating knowledge on FM and the COVID-19 pandemic. It sets forth recommendations that are useful for most developing countries’ public hospitals’ FM practices in the fight against this global pandemic. The authors intend to follow-up with future empirical studies for more objective assessments of FM and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors Influencing Optimal Hospital Design: A Comparative Study between Thai and Norwegian Public Hospitals

“…Healthcare services, including hospitals, are considered a fundamental infrastructure of every country [1]. With the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the design of healthcare facilities (or healthcare architecture) has become one of the top priorities for healthcare policy makers as the design of the hospital can lead to positive patient health outcomes [2].…”

Development of Digitalization Road Map for Healthcare Facility Management

“…Hence, developing an automated, flexible work scheduling system and facilitating the work-from-home to optimize FM staff's physical presence in the healthcare can reduce the total number of internal staff inside the building [16]. On the other hand, Amos et al (2020) suggested that continuously updated training for the FM staff who work in the healthcare sector about the new diseases and infections prevention will integrate the power of the FM knowledge with the medical science, which in summary will contribute in providing fast responses for any future pandemics [11].…”

Agility of facilities management organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learnt for future pandemics

“…Regardless of the phase of the pandemic, facilities offering mission critical services are in operation. FM plays an important role because it ensures that these facilities are operating efficiently to fight against COVID-19 (Amos et al , 2021). On the other hand, lockdowns may lead to full or partial shutdown of less critical buildings and a reduction in services, leading to a scaling back on FM operations (Rashdi et al , 2020).…”

“…Apart from healthcare workers, facility management professionals (FMPs) and operatives (collectively known as FM staff) are also among the essential workforce on the front line of the pandemic as they need to meet the heightened demand to provide a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment (IFMA Foundation, 2020). FM plays an important role to ensure that the facilities are operational and safe during the pandemic (Amos et al , 2021).…”