Guidelines for designing an endoscopy unit (Report of the Dutch Society of Hepatogastroenterology)

Abstract

In many hospitals endoscopy was first introduced by performing gastroscopies in an all-purpose, empty room. The rapid development of endoscopy with all its diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities gave rise to the necessity of setting minimum-requirements for the design and construction of endoscopy units. The area must be sufficiently versatile to enable the handling of emergency cases without disrupting routine sessions1”3. The space and facilities required in these units depend upon the spectrum of available procedures. Roughly, a division can be made between endoscopy units with endoscopists trained in basic skills (i.e. gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy and the occasional colonoscopy), and units with gastroenterologists, fully trained in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy and capable of practicing all aspects of modern endoscopy. At the moment there are few endoscopy departments with the opportunity to design their own unit. Because of the lack of information, each architect realizes that there is almost no literature on planning endoscopy units4. The sharp rise in the number of endoscopic procedures, the degree of difficulty in a number of new techniques and the large number of medical staff practicing these methods give rise to the need for specifically designed working areas12. Besides regulations for the number of procedures per room, regulations for the endoscopy rooms themselves are required. This chapter attempts to make a start with the formulation of guidelines for such a unit.