FEATURE ARTICLES

Duty-bound under contracts with partner NHS PCTs, independent primary care contractors, and other community stakeholders who lease healthcare premises from it, to ensure that the buildings’ energy systems and plant run efficiently and cost-effectively, Community Solutions, a leading investor in, and developer of, UK community-based health, social, and local authority services.

While the “traditional” way to measure Legionella quantitatively in water is based on a complex culture method where results can take up to 14 days, the last few years have seen the availability of very rapid real-time monitoring of the bacterium in water systems, with the development of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), a process which gives results “within hours”.

At last November’s 21st IFHE Congress in Tokyo, Israeli architect Arad Sharon described how he and his partner at Tel Aviv-based Sharon Architects, Sharon Gur-Ze’ev, had designed a new children’s hospital on Haifa’s Rambam Health Care campus, one of Israel’s best-known healthcare sites, and already home both to the region’s largest medical centre, and a Level 1 Trauma Centre that treats both civilian and military patients.

During a recent whistle-stop trip to England, International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE) President, Professor Yasushi Nagasawa, and a delegation of Japanese student architects and engineers, managed not only to tour of a number of London’s leading healthcare facilities, and a renewable energy facility at London’s South Bank University – where the Professor had earlier trained.

Like other communications technology, nurse call systems have evolved considerably over the past 10-15 years, and now offer far more than just their primary function.

Over the next few years the NHS is set to undergo its most significant changes in generations. Peter Wilkinson, a partner at Drivers Jonas Deloitte, who leads the company’s regional Construction Advisory practice and national public sector business, explores what this might mean for the NHS estate.

Peter Hill, associate director and solicitor at specialist law firm TPP Law, considers the potential impact on estate management of the substantial reforms proposed for the NHS under last Year’s White Paper, “Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS”.

An ongoing upgrading of clinical handwashing facilities at its hospitals by NHS Lanarkshire is seeing the Scottish Health Board replace, in many cases, ageing basins and taps subject to Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) criticism, with standardised modules comprising a clinical basin, Horne Engineering’s Optitherm thermostatic tap, and soap and towel dispensers, all mounted on a single integrated panel structure.

Sue Frith, deputy head of the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS), explains the organisation’s important role in advising, and supporting, security staff at NHS hospitals in dealing with incidents ranging from verbal abuse to serious violence and aggression.

A close-knit team of eight senior personnel with backgrounds in mental healthcare have collaborated to develop a new High Secure Building Design Guide for England’s three high secure mental health hospitals – Ashworth, Broadmoor, and Rampton.

Medical turnkey pre-installation specialist Canute International Medical Services (CIMS) recently supported provider of managed equipment services Asteral in a project to re-model the Rowan Bentall wing of Surrey’s Kingston Hospital.

Paul Courson, UK managing director of cable management specialist, Cablofil, discusses some of the health and safety challenges facing hospitals during refurbishment, and the considerations for specification of a cable management system, both during the works, and beyond.

Graeme Dunn, an Authorising Engineer (MGPS) who is based at WS Atkins’ Glasgow office, explains the key safety and other practical considerations when supplying medical gas pipeline systems into training facilities.

The Department of Health (DH), Defra, and the Department for Transport, have recently announced the publication of the second edition of the Safe management of healthcare waste manual (known as Health Technical Memorandum 07-01).

This summer will see the publication of the first amendment to the British Standard 7671:2008, Requirements for Electrical Installations.

Last Autumn’s Comprehensive Spending Review included what international environmental consultancy Environ describes as “an unexpected update” on the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), with a change in its structure and timelines.

The options open to NHS Trusts and other large healthcare providers to ensure electrical resilience for their estate, with a particular focus on generator selection, installation, and maintenance, were examined by Geoff Halliday, head of sales at “total generator solutions provider” Power Electrics, at a recent IHEEM “electrical installation” seminar in London.

Floors are one of the biggest capital assets of the healthcare estate and, under a continual stampede of feet, suffer the most wear and abuse of all, making it unsurprising that flooring – of whatever type – is regularly replaced, despite the considerable potential expense.

The importance of properly identifying, assessing, and managing risk in all areas of engineering practice, the fact that genuine innovation is almost impossible without a certain element of risktaking, and the need to acknowledge and respond to public concerns, however much some may be ill-founded, over the risks inherent in technological and engineering advances, are highlighted in a new risk guidance document, Guidance on Risk for the Engineering Profession,

A detailed look at the latest regulations, legislation, and guidance governing electrical services and installations in healthcare was given by Richard Knight, director of professional estates and facilities business consultancy, CPA Solutions, at a recent IHEEM seminar, “Electrical installation guidance for healthcare premises”, in London. HEJ editor Jonathan Baillie reports.