ALL ABOUT THE DOOR
Supporting Assisted Care with Door Hardware
Karen Trigg of Allegion UK discusses the complex settings of care home environments , and how the hidden roles of door hardware can further contribute to the safety and security of vulnerable residents .
» DESPITE THEIR QUAINT FAÇADES , modern care home environments are under consistent pressure to secure the safety and care of vulnerable residents and staff . Between funding constraints , staff retention and the reverberations of COVID-19 , the UK ’ s 17,000 care homes and their 400,000 residents face several challenges to provide safe and comfortable settings for occupants .
Where the safety and care of residents is concerned , external regulation from the Care Quality Commission ( CQC ) is designed to preserve fundamental standards of quality and safety . As an independent regulator , the CQC regularly monitors and inspects all health and social care organisations , awarding tiered service ratings for institutes postinspection . At a crucial time of year for residents , upon inspection , several care homes across the country have recently been found at fault and marked by the CQC as ‘ requires improvement ‘ or , in some cases , ‘ inadequate ‘ and risk closure in the process .
Above all , the safety and quality of life for residents must remain priority for decision makers and , with that , there must be a drive to improve the standards of care homes over the testing winter months and beyond . Outside of key government funding and recruitment initiatives , facility managers can look towards their
internal environments , refining their building ’ s safety and security measures in a bid to raise quality of life and care . And , for this , door hardware can play a supporting role .
Hardware ’ s hidden roles
Widely considered as a building ’ s most used piece of furniture , door hardware plays an important role in the access and egress of a building and its many rooms – and it ’ s often used hundreds to thousands of times each day , all without a second thought by most people .
For care home environments ( and those that house vulnerable residents especially ), the role of door hardware runs deeper and can provide plethora of benefits to a building ’ s safety and operation if specified , installed and maintained correctly . Improved hardware functionality , for example , can vastly improve ease of movement for elderly or less-abled residents , as well as further
safeguard their quality of life and safety in the process . When applied correctly , door hardware is designed to facilitate the free movement and operation of a door , keeping it suitable for user application in any scenario . And in key areas such as care home bedrooms , toilets and dedicated fire escapes , this removes the issue of heavy or non-functional doors to residents .
Keeping with this , care home facility managers - or more specifically the building ’ s designated responsible persons - must regularly review the operation of fire doors and their hardware located in and around the building as part of a risk assessment . If a door doesn ’ t operate as intended , immediate maintenance and adjustment is required to ensure the security and fire safety of a building isn ’ t compromised . Each of the UK ’ s 17,000 care homes are legally bound under British and European legislation to possess operational fire door sets as part of their building ’ s passive fire protection system . Crucially , fire door hardware is specifically designed to help contain the flames and smoke in the event of a fire . Where vulnerable patients and residents are at a heightened risk , doors should be fitted with panic exit devices that are designed to provide effective escape through
Sources : https :// www . carehome . co . uk / advice / care-home-stats-number-of-settings-population-workforce | https :// www . cqc . org . uk https :// www . examinerlive . co . uk / news / local-news / kirklees-care-homes-ranked-requires-25683760
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JAN / FEB 2023
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