Healthcare

Hospitals and clinics stay open around the clock to everyone, which makes their security harder than most sectors. Open access, aggression and the need to keep wards running shape the threat; rated doors, hatches, glazing and shielding answer it for UK healthcare buildings.

• SR2 to SR4Forced entry ratings for pharmacies and stores
• SRA and SRBQuiet-attack ratings for wards
• EI 30 to EI 120Fire ratings for compartmentation
• RF shieldingSpecified in dB for MRI suites

The threats healthcare estates face

A hospital cannot lock its front door. Emergency departments receive the public at all hours, which brings aggression toward staff, unauthorised access to treatment areas, and theft from bays and corridors. The entrance has to stay welcoming while the clinical areas behind it stay controlled.

Pharmacies hold controlled drugs, which makes them a target for burglary and robbery. Medical gas stores, pathology labs and equipment stores hold items with street value or with the potential for harm. Plant rooms and energy centres are attacked for copper and cable.

Wards face a different threat: the quiet intruder at night. Patients sleep a few metres from corridors and service doors, so noisy attack is unlikely but stealth attack is realistic. Doors near wards need to resist quiet tools without slamming, rattling or needing force to operate.

Then there is the crowd. Large hospitals hold well over 800 people at peak times, which puts them in the enhanced tier of Martyn’s Law. The Act does not mandate specific products, but enhanced tier premises are expected to consider physical protective measures.

Security must never block escape. Healthcare fire strategy depends on compartmentation and clear escape routes. Every rated door on an escape route must also carry the right fire rating and fail safe on alarm.

The standards and guidance for healthcare

LPS 1175 covers forced entry for doors, hatches and windows. Pharmacies, drug stores and medical gas stores typically specify SR3 or SR4, while general back-of-house doors sit at SR2. LPS 2081 covers stealth attack with quiet tools, rated SRA at one minute and SRB at three minutes, and suits doors near sleeping patients.

Fire performance is tested to EN 1634-1 and classified E, EW or EI with 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes; the fire ratings guide explains the classes. The LPCB scheme for fire doors is LPS 1056. Where both apply, fire and security doors carry both ratings in one assembly.

MRI suites need RF shielded rooms, specified by attenuation in dB over a frequency range, and often magnetic shielding as well. The two are different things and both need to be in the specification.

Healthcare zone by zone

Map each zone to its threat first. The ratings below are typical starting points for a healthcare threat assessment.

Specification mistakes to avoid in healthcare

• Letting security fight the fire strategy. A locked ward door that traps patients is a failure, not a protection. Specify dual-rated fire and security doors with the right release on alarm, and agree the strategy with the fire officer early.
• Putting noisy doors next to wards. A heavy doorset that slams or needs a shove to close will be wedged open within a week. Specify quiet closers, hold-open linked to the alarm, and LPS 2081 where stealth attack is the threat.
• Leaving the pharmacy hatch unrated. The hatch is a hole in a rated wall. If the wall resists SR3 and the hatch resists nothing, the hatch is the route in. Rate hatches to match the rooms they serve.
• Forgetting medical gas and plant stores. These sit away from the main building and get attacked for copper, or tampered with. They need the same SR2 or SR3 thinking as the pharmacy, plus ventilation that does not create a weak point.
• Specifying RF shielding without magnetic shielding. An MRI suite needs both where the scanner requires it. RF shielding alone, or shielding fitted after the room is built, costs more and performs worse than a coordinated design.

Frequently asked questions