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FEATURE ARTICLES

Minimising electrical risks in Group 2 locations

Timo Ohtonen, managing director and owner of the Finnish health tech company, PPO-Elektroniikka Oy, explains the critical importance of electrical safety within Group 2 healthcare premises, focusing on medical IT systems employing insulation monitoring (IMD).

Gala dinner a chance to celebrate success

This year’s Healthcare Estates IHEEM Awards, presented at a ‘sellout’ gala dinner on 8 October at Manchester’s Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, saw 650 guests witness the presentation of 13 awards, including one celebrating Lifetime Achievement. After a three-course dinner, footballing legend, Kevin Keegan, entertained guests with some amusing and interesting recollections from an incredible career. The genial former striker also chatted to attendees – many of whom remembered seeing him play – throughout an enjoyable and lively evening celebrating achievement, innovation, and commitment. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.

A passion for engineering and for people within it

IHEEM’s 2024 AGM at Healthcare Estates 2024 in Manchester saw the Institute’s first female President, Alison Ryan, hand over to her successor, Nigel Keery OBE, Eur.Ing, C.Eng, B.Eng (Hons) FIHEEM, MCIBSE, in his ‘day job’ Head of Estates Operations at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, father, and an uncle who were all electrical engineers, and with his son and daughter now in healthcare engineering jobs, his role at one of Europe’s biggest public healthcare providers has given him some sleepless nights, but his enthusiasm for engineering remains undimmed, he told HEJ‘s editor, Jonathan Baillie, on meeting him by ‘Teams’.

COVID-19’s impact on the long-term estate

Charlotte Hutchinson, Associate partner, Carter Jonas (London), discusses the long-term impacts of the global pandemic on the future provision of healthcare real estate

CAFM systems can ease estate management

Implementing a centralised Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system to manage ongoing workflow and maintenance can make healthcare estates more efficient, while also ensuring that ‘nothing falls through the cracks with regards to compliance’. So says Nigel Robinson, General manager of international facilities management software provider, Service Works Global, who explains how to implement a digital strategy and the resulting benefits, with examples from work carried out with the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Helping shape the estate of Greater London’s PCNs

Elisa Berry BA(Hons), BArch(Hons), RIBA, Director and architect at Howarth Litchfield, explains how the Durham-based architecture and interior design practice has been leading work with some of Greater London’s Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in response to the revised NHSE/I PCN Estates Guidance of 2020, which required PCNs to have a PCN Estate Strategy, supported by a PCN Clinical Strategy.

A look at bringing verification ‘in house’

Dr Scott Brown, managing director and lead consultant for Health Tech Solutions, explores the benefits – including the opportunities for significant cost savings – of moving verification of specialist healthcare ventilation ‘in house’, along with the associated risks.

Decarbonising allied to healthy design principles

Amid shifting budget constraints and pressing Net Zero targets, M&E designers and architects are re-evaluating the way they approach the design of healthcare facilities. However, says Steve Richmond, head of Marketing and Technical at Rehau Building Solutions, it is critical that these new considerations do not impact the wellbeing of patients and staff. Here he discusses the importance of instilling healthy design principles ‘to facilitate truly sustainable growth for the sector’.

‘The next generation of assurance tools’

In an article in the September 2023 issue of HEJ, Quiqsolutions Business Development director, Health and Care, Paul Kaye, explained how – working with IHEEM – the company was set to launch a suite of tools to aid EFM governance and compliance. Here he explains how the past year has seen Quiqsolutions and IHEEM’s Technical Platforms work together again to develop ‘the next generation of assurance tools’, and standardised audit and pre-audit templates across key estates technical areas such as Ventilation, Water, Decontamination, Electrical, and Medical Gases.

Digital technology can aid task management

Matt Jeffreys, Commercial director of Healthcare at Wandsworth Group, discusses some of the key benefits of digital technology in improving task management in hospitals and other healthcare facilities – in areas ranging from catering and cleaning to portering and bed management.

Taking the pain out of ERIC data collection

In the complex landscape of healthcare administration, one major challenge NHS Trusts face is gathering data for the annual Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) report – especially as analysing data from the various departments and units becomes key to meeting looming zero carbon goals. Highlighting the hurdles that NHS Trusts encounter in ERIC reporting and related sustainability endeavours, Nicholas Hughes, senior manager of Healthcare at MRI Software, examines technology’s ‘pivotal role’ in overcoming these challenges

The prescription for smart hospital success

Deteriorating infrastructure, an ageing and growing patient population, and budgetary constraints, have resulted in hospitals facing significant operational challenges. Digitalisation offers healthcare facilities an unprecedented opportunity to do more with less, as Steve Jamieson, Healthcare Sector lead at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, explains.

Hitting Net Zero without harming patient safety

Anil Madan, Non-Residential Marketing manager at Ideal Standard UK and Armitage Shanks, discusses one of the key modern-day challenges for the NHS – the imperative to reach Net Zero, but to do so without harming patient safety, and some of the key ways this might be achieved

Navigating the NHS Net Zero Building Standard

Sarah Butler, Business Case lead at Drees & Sommer UK, explores what the NHS Net Zero Building Standard means for NHS Trusts, the challenges they may face, and why the role of the Net Zero Carbon Coordinator is vital. Scott Rushton, Associate at Drees & Sommer UK, adds his expertise as a Net Zero Carbon and Sustainability specialist to explain the purpose of the role, and why engaging with sufficiently qualified experts is key.

Do TMVs still have a viable role in healthcare?

Historically, thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) have played a vital role in protecting vulnerable users. However, recent scrutiny has cast doubt on their efficacy, prompting some facilities to explore alternative solutions, says Carole Armstrong, Senior Marketing manager at Delabie, who here asks whether thermostatic mixing valve technology still has a role to play in modern healthcare settings.

Preventing unattended alarms leading to a crisis

Kevin Brown, managing director at BlueSky Wireless, and ICON’s Richard Salvage, highlight ‘the potentially catastrophic consequences’ of unattended alarms in healthcare. Here they explore why messaging, automation, and monitoring are crucial factors in mitigating risk.

Technical Boiler House Risk Assessments in focus

Carl Knight, managing director of leading heat transfer specialist, Fulton, discusses the critical importance of Technical Boiler House Risk Assessments (TBHRAs) for NHS Trusts and healthcare facilities, exploring relevant regulations, assessment requirements for both fuel-fired and electrically-heated steam boilers, and what he dubs ‘the severe implications of non-compliance’.

Six years’ meticulous planning bears fruit

Carl Mitten, a co-owner and Director of MIG Group, discusses the company’s establishment of a new hub for clinical design in Altrincham, ‘dedicated to revolutionising how medical settings are conceived and constructed’.

How energy-resilient is your estate?

The electrical infrastructure of many major healthcare sites was designed in a different era, and has evolved over decades in reaction to changing circumstances and advances in technology. Ed McNaught, Healthcare specialist at TGA Consulting Engineers, discusses some of the key steps to take to ensure that such infrastructure can provide resilient standby power supply to 100% of clinical facilities, and, increasingly, can also accommodate embedded renewable generation.

Highlighting the value of social prescribing hubs

Alasdair Ben Dixon, a chartered architect and Partner at architecture and design practice, Collective Works, discusses the firm’s recent work with local organisations to design and create social prescribing hubs that give patients more agency in their own health outcomes – by making clear the activities which can most benefit their wellbeing. He explains that ‘by addressing the root causes of ill health, and enhancing overall wellbeing, social prescribing has emerged as a powerful tool in the healthcare landscape’.

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