Why Visitors Get Lost in Hospitals

The root problem

Hospitals are not designed for first-time visitors

Hospitals are usually designed around clinical services, operational needs and specialist departments. Over time, buildings expand, departments move, new entrances are added and different areas become connected by long corridors, lifts, stairwells and separate wings.

For hospital staff, this environment becomes familiar through daily use. For a visitor arriving for the first time, the same environment can feel confusing almost immediately.

This creates a gap between how hospitals are understood internally and how they are experienced by the public. What feels obvious to staff may not be obvious to someone who is anxious, running late, supporting a loved one or trying to follow signs in an unfamiliar building.

Visitor challenges

Common reasons visitors get lost

Most visitors do not get lost because they are careless. They get lost because the hospital environment asks them to make several navigation decisions while they may already be under stress.

1. Too many entrances

Many hospitals have several entrances, each serving different departments, clinics, car parks or buildings. If a visitor enters through the wrong entrance, they can find themselves far from where they need to be before their journey has even properly started.

2. Department naming confusion

Appointment information may use one name while signs use another. A visitor may be told to attend “Outpatients”, but arrive and see signs for “Clinics”, “Ambulatory Care”, “Diagnostics” or a specific department name. This mismatch creates hesitation, wrong turns and repeated questions.

3. Poor flow between floors

Lifts, stairs and corridors are not always positioned where visitors expect them. A route may require changing floor, crossing into another wing or using a specific lift. Without clear guidance, visitors may follow the right general direction but still end up in the wrong area.

4. Stress and time pressure

Hospital visits are often emotional or time-sensitive. Visitors may be worried about an appointment, visiting someone unwell, arriving with children or supporting a vulnerable person. Stress makes it harder to process signage and remember instructions.

Operational impact

Getting lost affects more than the visitor

Navigation problems do not only affect the person trying to find their way. They can also create small but repeated pressures across the hospital.

• Reception staff may spend time repeating the same directions throughout the day.
• Clinical staff may be interrupted by visitors asking where to go.
• Appointments may start late because people arrive at the hospital but not at the correct department.
• Visitors may feel stressed, frustrated or embarrassed before they even reach the appointment area.

These individual moments may seem small, but across a busy hospital site they can add up. Better wayfinding can help reduce avoidable confusion, support smoother visitor flow and create a calmer experience.

Why it matters

Why this problem is worth solving

Hospital wayfinding is often treated as a background issue, but it affects how people feel, how long journeys take and how much staff time is spent supporting directions.

Improving navigation can help create a more modern hospital experience. Visitors can feel more confident, hospitals can reduce repeated questions and appointment journeys can become smoother.

WardNav direction

How WardNav is being built around this problem

WardNav is being developed to help people find wards, clinics, departments, entrances and facilities more easily. The goal is to create clearer digital guidance that supports people before and during their hospital visit.

For visitors, this means less uncertainty and a clearer journey. For hospitals, it creates the potential to reduce repeated direction requests and better understand how people move through their sites.