RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES
Safeguarding patients, simplifying maintenance
When specifying products for healthcare facilities there are a wide range of factors to consider – from eliminating water wastage and cutting utility costs, to reducing maintenance and managing infection control.- Feature
Regular maintenance and monitoring are both vital
A British commercial boiler manufacturer looks at the key considerations for designing ‘safe, reliable, and efficient’ hot water systems for healthcare facilities, and at minimising the major risk factors for the growth and proliferation of harmful waterborne bacteria within them.- Feature
Power no longer need be a fixed cost commodity
With the NHS facing pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency, the head of Healthcare Business Development at Centrica Business Solutions examines ‘how innovative energy systems could drive change and make a lasting difference’.- Feature
Tailor-made facility for PMLD patients
Westwood Care and Support Group has completed the internal refurbishment and reconfiguration of two buildings on the former Huntercombe mental healthcare site at Market Weighton, providing purpose-designed units – one for residential, and one for respite care – for patients with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and complex physical needs. HEJ reports.- Feature
Contributing to a positive, healthy care environment
Sharron Kapellar, National Framework manager at Forbo Flooring Systems, discusses what she dubs ‘the change in healthcare design’, and explains how well-considered flooring specifications, and the optimal flooring selection, can contribute to a healing environment.- Feature
Risk matrix methodology has ‘fundamental flaw’
Dr Melvyn Langford, who worked for nearly four decades in the NHS, including as an estates and facilities manager, discusses – using mathematical computations – the factors that have long convinced him that there is ‘a fundamental flaw’ within the ‘5x5 risk matrix’ used to establish the relative urgency of backlog maintenance in NHS healthcare facilities.- Feature
AEs should be expert and impartial advisers
Authorising Engineers (AEs) have a key role to play in ensuring the safe, efficient management and operation of key plant, equipment, and systems in a range of engineering disciplines in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, in accordance with key HTM and other guidance, and legislation.- Feature
Award validates hospital’s sustainability programme
Clare Tattersall, editor of the CHES magazine, Canadian Healthcare Facilities, examines the wide-ranging measures that staff at the Markham Stouffville Hospital in Markham, Ontario, have taken to raise the healthcare facility’s environmental performance and sustainability credentials since it opened nearly three decades ago.- Feature
Crocodiles, culture, and international diversity
Darryl Pitcher, who took over as the IFHE’s President from Douwe Kiestra at the event, reports on a highly successful 25th IFHE Congress held in Brisbane last October, where, in addition to the human attendees, the venue – Brisbane City Hall – also welcomed a variety of Australia’s wildlife.- Feature
New models of care driving future estate
An associate partner and strategist in the health planning team at construction, property, and management consultancy, Rider Levett Bucknall, considers a changing NHS estate, with expectations that, in future, more outpatient care will be delivered closer to patients’ homes.- Feature
A ‘holistic approach’ to system management
A look at the critical role played by microbiological water testing in improving patient safety, and some key maintenance priorities for estates team to keep healthcare water systems running safely and hygienically.- Feature
Sensors help optimise use of space in the workplace
New workplace management and occupancy technology is helping organisations in other sectors make large savings on their real estate while also improving the employee and visitor experience, says Raj Krishnamurthy, CEO of agile working solutions provider, Workplace Fabric, who here explores the opportunities for such technologies in healthcare.- Feature
Exterior conveys PBT unit’s ‘prestige and importance’
The founder and CEO of ventilated cladding system specialist, Shackerley, discusses the use of the company’s SureClad ceramic granite façade system at the new £100 million Proton Beam Therapy Centre at The Christie in Manchester.- Feature
A stronger proposition across the board
A specialist in passive fire protection solutions, ‘innovative plasterboard products and systems’, and fibre cement boards, has launched a new dense plasterboard with integrated glass fibre mesh which it says combines a robust construction – making it well suited to areas subject to impact, attack, and abuse – with excellent acoustic performance.- Feature
Out of sight should not be out of mind
Where hospital budgets are under pressure, roof maintenance and repairs are often addressed reactively. A look at why establishing the condition of flat roofs and taking a long-term approach to maintenance, repair, and replacement, will help manage budgets more effectively- Feature
Secure door manufacturer targeting new markets
Specialist in high security and blast / ballistic-resistant doors and windows, Stafford Bridge, is set to considerably expand its portfolio in the next few months, and will be increasingly targeting the acute and mental health sectors.- Feature
An effective approach to controlling Legionella
A look at the need for secondary preventative measures – alongside thermal control – to guard against significant growth and build-up of Legionella in hospital water systems.- Feature
Laparoscopic capabilities enhanced at Ayr hospital
Surgeons at University Hospital Ayr undertaking laparoscopic surgery can now operate with much enhanced visibility, and stream live images of surgery for training both within the hospital and to locations worldwide, after the installation of Scotland’s first ‘4K’ integrated operating theatre.- Feature
What to expect of a Water Regulations inspection
Tim Sibbald, Water Regulations team leader at Northumbrian Water, looks at what happens during a Water Regulations inspection of hospitals and other healthcare premises.- Feature
Who should appoint AEs and APs?
Last month, speaking at the IHEEM 2019 AE Conference, Authorising Engineer, Andrew Poplett, explained how the assessment, appointment, and acceptance of key roles and responsible officers ‘can cause significant confusion and issues within the ever-changing organisational structures of both NHS and private healthcare providers’- Feature
