FEATURE ARTICLES

Three microbiologists and a highly experienced EFM professional argue that ensuring patient safety in new healthcare facilities requires a markedly different approach to design and construction.

Stuart Douglas, Director of Specialist Estates Services, part of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, discusses issues facing Welsh healthcare estate management and engineering personnel.

Neil Campbell, Chief Sales officer at eEnergy, discusses some of the ways that healthcare estates teams can lower the amount of energy wasted in their buildings, and some of the other – in many cases relatively straightforward and inexpensive – steps they can take to reduce the carbon footprint of their estate and play their part in the NHS achieving its Net Zero goals.

Healthcare providers have a duty of care to patients. Along with nursing and medical staff, this includes the requirement that healthcare estates and facilities management and healthcare engineering personnel ensure that appropriate governance arrangements for critical power back-up at their particular healthcare facility are managed effectively. Alex Emms, Technical director at Kohler Uninterruptible Power (KUP), looks at some of the key considerations.

A new pathology laboratory building at Leeds’s St James’s University Hospital that will serve patients across West Yorkshire was officially opened in September 2023. The highly automated facility will serve hospitals across the region, avoiding considerable duplication, and significantly speeding diagnosis and treatment for many thousands of patients annually. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, visited the new Centre for Laboratory Medicine to find out more.

Three academics report on research, sponsored by the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to identify how knowledge priorities vary among NHS EFM staff across organisational levels

Following IHEEM’s work to strengthen and promote the role and importance of professional development and independent AEs across all its specialist engineering platforms, members highlighted the urgent need to actively support the development of AP and CPs. IHEEM’s Decontamination Technical Platform is now piloting a programme in Wales aimed at directly supporting such personnel. John Prendergast, an IHEEMregistered AE(D) leading the pilot, discusses the wider issue of engineering governance in healthcare facilities, and ongoing work to ensure that engineers at all levels are competent.

In this article, Walt Vernon, CEO of global engineering design and consulting firm, Mazzetti, and 2nd Vice-President of the IFHE, reports on work being undertaken at Valley Children’s Hospital in Central California which should see it become the US’s first Net Zero paediatric hospital campus, with contributions from the hospital’s Vice-President of Innovation, Ratan Milevoj.

Les Szabo, NSW (New South Wales) State manager at Australian water treatment specialist, HydroChem, discusses work to implement an effective Legionella risk management and prevention strategy for the hot water system at a Sydney hospital. Among the key steps taken to address the existing protocols’ shortcomings were establishing a proper sampling protocol, implementing a monthly maintenance programme for chlorine dosing, taking samples from locations on each floor – with a focus on showers, and installing a chorine dosing unit equipped with remote telemetry.

Business management consultancy, The PSC’s recent development of a so-called ‘Blueprint’ approach to designing estates reportedly both meets population needs, and enables integration of care.

Sean Woodhead, associate architect at BDP, looks at how the design of Heatherwood Hospital in Berkshire has helped support positive outcomes at this specialist, planned care facility.

Chris Brown, Public Sector lead at IES, discusses the need for NHS Trusts to be able to provide comprehensive data on current performance, and good evidence of the need for funding, to secure monies for heat decarbonisation schemes.

With the issue of addressing the risks from RAAC planking in public buildings such as hospitals and schools very much in the spotlight in recent months, Alister Broadberry, Area director for the Eastern Counties at Morgan Sindall Construction, describes the business’s recent work for a Norfolk acute hospital Trust to help keep their structural RAAC planks safely, swiftly, and securely propped ‘for years to come’.

The New Hospital Programme’s Senior Responsible Owner, Natalie Forrest, updated Healthcare Estates 2023 delegates on progress with the Programme, and discussed the Hospital 2.0 model.

Schneider Electric’s David Williams argues that achieving Net Zero is ‘a whole company / organisation initiative’, and warns against procrastination, saying ‘the time to act is now’.

Hospitals have unique ventilation requirements. Lee Jenkins-Skinner, CIAT’s AHU specialist, highlights updated guidance on the subject.

Alongside IHEEM’s 80th anniversary, the Hong Kong Branch marked 25 years with a symposium in the city. Representing IHEEM from the UK were President, Alison Ryan, and Past-President, Paul Fenton.

HEJ’s Editor recently caught up with Director and Head of Profession, NHS Estates, at NHS England, Simon Corben, to discuss some of the highlights and challenges of his six and a half years in post to date, and his thoughts on the future.

At Healthcare Estates 2023, experienced healthcare planner, Suzanne MacCormick, explained how getting the sensory aspects of healthcare facilities right plays a critical part in providing the optimal care environment and speeding recovery.

Scott Tacchi, Head of MMC at Sir Robert McAlpine, argues that for the true benefits of MMC approaches to be understood, a comprehensive breakdown of the cost-benefits to provide the data and information necessary to effectively implement MMC practices from a cost reduction perspective is required.