RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES
Poor cooling knowledge can lead to ‘costly mistakes’
With patient safety a priority, NHS staff need uninterrupted access to clinical data 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. Phil McEneaney, from STULZ UK, warns that a failure to understand the difference between comfort cooling and precision cooling is resulting in poorly specified equipment – ‘leading to higher costs, IT failures, and increased risk’.- Feature
Designing for seamless emergency care
Two innovative new hospital projects designed by healthcare specialist architects, BDP, feature what the practice’s Architect director believes are ‘among the most ambitious designs to date for seamless emergency care’.- Feature
Three Bath building projects ‘virtually enabled’
Integral Engineering Design has worked alongside the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) NHS Foundation Trust in Bath on three new building projects over the past five years. Claire Thomas, a director at Integral, explains how Building Information Modelling (BIM) and 3D modelling (‘a kind of Virtual Reality’) have played a central role in the design of the buildings above ground, and, increasingly, also with the enabling works that are required when developing an existing hospital site.- Feature
Steps to more effective endoscope reprocessing
With concern in recent years over inadequate reprocessing of endoscopes, a look at some of the key steps and measures that can be taken to tackle the issue, and thus reduce the risk of infection from contaminated devices.- Feature
Combating HCAIs using the latest technology
Tinaz Ranina, Product manager, Infection Prevention & Personal Care at Diversey, UK & Ireland, takes a look at some of the increasingly powerful and effective disinfectants and advanced ‘adjunct technologies’ now available to help hospital cleaning teams in the fight against the ever-more resistant pathogens in healthcare facilities that can cause hospital-acquired infections.- Feature
‘Making the invisible visible’ at advanced digital hospital
In September 2018, the new £200 m Chase Farm Hospital near Enfield opened to become what its operator, the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, believes is the NHS’s most advanced digital hospital.- Feature
Sunlight’s role in recovery and wellbeing highlighted
Architect, Richard Mazuch, founder and champion of IBI TH!NK, the IBI Group’s ‘in-house’ research and development group, and an advocate of evidence-based design in ‘creating innovations that positively impact the psychology and physiology of patient groups’, examines the many positive therapeutic benefits – both physical and mental – of ensuring that modern healthcare buildings, and the patients being treated within them, get sufficient sunlight.- Feature
Using Travel Plans to cut costs and parking problems
Hospitals regularly suffer with high numbers of cars arriving at site, with their drivers wanting to use onsite parking, resulting in a higher demand for car parking spaces than is actually available. Here Simon Bourke, Healthcare Sector lead for global professional services firm, RPS Group, looks at the key considerations, and at some of the key steps in developing an effective Travel Plan, with a focus on the positive outcomes resulting from doing this at two large acute NHS Trusts.- Feature
Managing washrooms efficiently and safely
Paul Musgrove, UK Development manager at shower room and washroom specialist, Conti+ UK, discusses some of the many and varied considerations and priorities for estates and facilities teams managing healthcare washroom systems, and outlines some of the recent advances in the field from the company.- Feature
Inspire individuals to ‘discover their possibilities’
Becky Hill, an applied biology and microbiology research scientist who ‘transitioned into the corporate world’ – developing her knowledge skills and expertise in water treatment and purification – before founding performance improvement and strategic advisor company, Solutions 42, outlines her ‘holistic approach and measurable solutions to learning and development interventions in healthcare’.- Feature
People flow analysis used for Norwich research facility
The Quadram Institute in Norwich is, the facility’s creators say, ‘an exceptional interdisciplinary facility dedicated to food science, gut biology, and health’. Richard Walder, Sector director of Science and Technology (UK) at BuroHappold Engineering, and Nora Claudio Familiar, Project architect at NBBJ, outline the challenges of housing three complex organisations under one roof, and explain how collaboration enabled the project to succeed.- Feature
Training provider celebrates its half-century
For Eastwood Park, 2019 is more significant than most. This year the long-established training centre celebrates 50 years of delivering specialist engineering, decontamination, and estates and facilities management training. Helen Cornes, senior marketing executive at the Gloucestershire training facility, looks back at its development, and at how its course portfolio has both adapted and expanded over the years, in line with the significant changes in the sector.- Feature
Guernsey hospitals praise monitoring system
Working with UK thermometer manufacturer, TM Electronics UK, hospital estate managers in the States of Guernsey are using ‘practical, low cost temperature strategies’ to speed up and simplify water temperature monitoring across their healthcare estate, as well as to ensure that their hospitals’ water systems comply with the demanding requirements of the Department of Health & Social Care’s HTM 04-01 and the HSE’s ACoP ‘L8’ guidance on the control of Legionella in water systems.- Feature
Skirtless UCV canopy for complete theatre refit
Peter Bellis, managing director of Lancashire-based building services consulting engineers, A P Bellis & Associates, discusses the challenges of a complete refurbishment and refit of of one of the operating theatres at Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal in Cumbria.- Feature
Bringing proton beam therapy to the UK patients
In September’s HEJ, the architectural practice that designed the Rutherford Cancer Centre North East in Northumberland, JDDK Architects, discussed some of the key thinking behind the facility’s creation.- Feature
Better feedback for improved outcomes
Colin Dobbyne MIET, an experienced product designer, and the founder of Big Blue Solutions, says he is ‘passionate about empowering clinicians to make better decisions by connecting operating theatres to create a constant feedback loop for research and development’.- Feature
Reducing noise in today’s intensive care units
Four Master’s students in Mechanical/Electronic Engineering at the University of Portsmouth have recently undertaken a project looking at ‘excessively high’ noise levels in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Here they report on the findings of their research – which included surveying the public – and highlight a number of potential active and passive control measures to take to make such environments quieter and more ‘calming’.- Feature
Access to a new, diverse, and talented workforce
Mark Jackson, deputy director of Estates, Facilities and IT at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, considers the key benefits he has seen from his experience of implementing DFN Project SEARCH’s innovative training programme across three different Trusts.- Feature
Safeguarding people and protecting products
Effective environmental monitoring of ambient spaces housing everything from a catering operation to wards is key for safe, appropriate conditions in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.- Feature
Well-trained staff support good practice
A look at some of the key considerations in ensuring safe preparation and delivery of healthy food to hospital patients.- Feature
