FEATURE ARTICLES

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.

Georgina James of Arup Australia reports on the design of a new cancer centre in Sydney, Australia, which brings together cutting edge treatment and translational research facilities, a highly sustainable design, and the flexibility to adapt to cater for new “research directions and technologies” in the future.

Harry Waugh, the Scottish branch member of IHEEM’s Council, and a former Health Facilities Scotland energy manager, who now runs his own energy/carbon consultancy, “Call Harry”, argues that growing reliance on technology will continue to strengthen the need for effective energy management in the healthcare sphere.

IHEEM’s AE (D) Panel plays an important role in managing and administering the UK’s only official register of such specialist personnel, and indeed it is the Panel that selects qualified candidates for registration, interviews those considered “the right material”, and confers registered AE (D) status on those that Panel members feel have the right combination of professional experience and expertise, academic qualifications, and knowledge, to fulfil the role.

Clive Nattrass, programme director for the Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF), describes how the Fund can potentially help NHS Trusts seeking to upgrade and improve their infrastructure to reduce their carbon footprint, and thus make useful energy savings, to secure the necessary finance.

London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has installed a complete barrier laundry system from Electrolux Professional at its St Thomas’ Hospital location for specialist washing of an estimated 7,000 microfibre cloths and 5,000 microfibre mops each day from both the St Thomas’ and Guy’s Hospital sites.

Many medicines can be destroyed by storage and transportation at the wrong temperature. Joe Fudge, service manager at ABB Measurement Products, examines how proper monitoring supports best practice.

Creating a 21st Century mental healthcare facility which would soon be world-renowned both for its quality of care, and for the high standard of its buildings, was the overriding goal of the project team behind the new £75 million, 312-bed Roseberry Park mental healthcare facility in Middlesbrough.

Speed of construction, with significantly less disruption to on-site activity, and continuity of a wide range of orthopaedic surgery, coupled with excellent prior experience of the modular build specialist’s expertise at the site, led the project team for a suite of four new orthopaedic operating theatres at the Leicester General Hospital to again select Stockport-based MTX Contracts for the job.

Graeme Dunn, engineer, Design and Engineering at Atkins, who serves as an Authorising Engineer (MGPS) for both NHS clients and healthcare providers throughout the UK, Ian Sandford, a medical gas consultant (associate) at Hulley Specialist Gas Services, a specialist division of consulting engineers Hulley and Kirkwood, and Alex Black, an experienced technical consultant and AE (MGPS), of Alex Black and Associates, examine how the AE (MGPS) role developed, and highlight what they describe as its “pivotal importance” today.

With many of Europe’s landfill sites now close to capacity, and the EU Landfill Directive requiring that, by 2020, the amount of waste sent to landfill should be just 35% of the volume similarly disposed of in 1995, pressure is mounting to find environmentally acceptable waste disposal alternatives.

Authorising Engineers (Decontamination), a group of highly skilled individuals acknowledged as lacking an effective representative professional body over the past decade by Graham Stanton, the chairman of a new IHEEM Decontamination Technical Platform (DTP) established recently to promote their professional interests, have much both to contribute to, and to gain from, the new Platform, he, and the body’s secretary, Brian Kirk, explained to HEJ editor Jonathan Baillie at a recent meeting in London.

Addressing a 220-strong audience at London’s Barts Hospital at the launch of a new NHS Sustainable Development Unit (NHS SDU) publication, Route Map for Sustainable Health, senior NHS and NHS SDU speakers highlighted the magnitude of the challenge faced by the service over the next 5-40 years in meeting its carbon reduction targets, and set out how the new “Route Map” could provide important pointers to help all in the healthcare arena operate more sustainably in the broadest sense.

Once viewed almost exclusively as temporary facilities built down to a cost, especially by the architectural community, modular off-site built healthcare buildings have enjoyed increasing success in recent years, as perceptions about their quality, and recognition of their advantages over “traditional” on-site constructed buildings,

The St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says it has reached a significant milestone in a major project via which it aims to cease completely using paper-based patient records and other patientrelated information such as discharge summaries and X-ray results by converting all such documentation to online electronic form.