FEATURE ARTICLES

Bathed in natural light from its prominent windows and central glass atrium, the new £430 million Brunel Building at Southmead Hospital Bristol features what main contractor, Carillion, describes as ‘a host of unconventional architectural and patient care features, as well as a progressive approach to community engagement’.

Last October’s Healthcare Estates 2013 conference saw one of the first day’s ‘Engineering’ sessions debate the topic, ‘Why do so many buildings disappoint their owners and occupants?’

In this article, supplied with the help of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE), five co-authors* from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – a German organisation that seeks to encourage and co-ordinate international cooperation in areas ranging from sustainable development to fund management.

The organisers of this month’s HefmA 2014 annual conference and exhibition promise delegates “the opportunity to hear international perspectives on the current issues facing the worldwide ‘family’ of health estates and facilities professionals”.

Early 2013 saw Brandon Medical, which designs and manufactures equipment ranging from operating theatre lighting to medical AV and control systems, celebrate ‘20 years of innovation and growth’, with a move to a new £2 million, 50,000 ft2 headquarters in Morley near Leeds, twice the size of its former premises.

Choosing flooring for healthcare takes careful consideration. New legislation in healthcare places greater responsibility on those throughout the supply chain to ensure the safety of staff, visitors, and patients – now, and in the future.

Two articles that featured in HEJ’s April and November 2013 issues focused, respectively, on the roles and responsibilities of those operating and managing medical gas pipeline systems, and on the MGPS Permit to Work System.

‘A vision showing how key organisations in the health and care system will join forces to address sustainability challenges, potentially saving millions of pounds’ is how NHS England and Public Health England describe the new Sustainability Strategy for the NHS, Public Health and Social Care System for 2014-2020.

Alongside key elements such as lighting, interior décor, artwork, and good air quality, the quality of furniture in a healthcare setting plays a key role in creating a comfortable, fit-for-purpose, and therapeutic environment for patients, and a good staff working environment.

Danish manufacturer, V Guldmann, says ceiling-mounted patient hoists can ‘improve working environments for nurses and care staff, and, if considered correctly, provide longterm cost savings and free up resources to provide such personnel with more time to care’.

Alan Daniels, technical director at specialist in self-test emergency lighting and exit signs, P4, describes the latest trends in, and requirements for, emergency lighting, ‘a vital part of the building services footprint in hospitals and healthcare premises’.

Speaking at a recent Water Management Society conference, Ginny Moore, of Public Health England (PHE), described how the latest thinking, and the results of recent research and experience on minimising the risk of growth and spread of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in healthcare plumbing systems.

Scott Buckler, of social enterprise, 4 All of Us, co-organisers, with London’s Barts Health NHS Trust, of NHS Sustainability Day 2014.

Keen to address one of the major priorities on its backlog maintenance list, and, in the process, to significantly reduce both its carbon footprint and energy bills, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has recently entered into a 15-year Energy Performance Contract (EPC) with Cynergin.

According to its architects, Maber, the Corby Urgent Care Centre is “the first of its kind, providing a combination of primary and emergency care facilities in a community-focused building that patients and staff agree is friendly, welcoming, and ‘unlike a hospital’.”

Paul Campbell, commercial marketing manager at British Gypsum, explains the role of plaster and drylining solutions in creating a healthcare environment conducive to patient recovery.

Keen to identify if there remained significant potential to reduce energy consumption in a ‘typical’ operating theatre, Tom Pierce, consultant anaesthetist and clinical lead for sustainability at University Hospital Southampton, and two fellow medical professionals, Gemma Morris, a Foundation Year 1 doctor at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, and Beena Parker, an ST trainee in anaesthesia at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

David Lewis, Principal and design lead for the London studio of international design and architecture firm, NBBJ, and part of the Carillion consortium designing the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital with HKS for The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.

With the Government Construction Strategy requiring a strengthening of the public sector’s capability to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM) protocols.

With the NHS having committed to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% by 2015, Alan Newman, a partner at building services engineers, Troup Bywaters + Anders (TB+A), describes how, with the company’s expertise and help, customer, the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, ‘surpassed the targets two years in advance’.