FEATURE ARTICLES

TSB 155, the first Augmented Category 6 cabling standard, is reviewed by cabling system company Connectix, which also provides a specification guide for cable marking and administration.

Exceptionally high standards achieved in the architecture and design of healthcare buildings were recently recognised at an awards ceremony in London. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Sharon Kuligowski, managing director, Dunphy Combustion, provides an update on issues relating to the use of non-fossil fuels. This article is based on a paper presented at IHEEM’s Healthcare Estates Conference held in Harrogate last October.

To create better healthcare premises, there is a need to produce designer-friendly guidance that is simpler, more visual, more generic and evidence based, say Dr Sue Hignett Ph.D and Jun Lu M.Arch. B.Eng of the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety research Unit (HEPSU), Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University.

Dr K.C. Lam, of the Department of Building Services Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explores the merits of construction process re-engineering (CPR), and takes a special look at ProCure21.

Working in tandem with VAMED-KMB, the Vienna General Hospital in Austria has developed an innovative quality-based development model for the provision of technical services and plant maintenance. Report by Peter Csukovits, technical director of the hospital, and Otto Müller, general manager, VAMED-KMB.

The National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers sets outs its aims and objectives.

The National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers (NAHFO) is a group of fire safety professionals who share ideas and experiences and offer advice to all manner of healthcare organisations and other professional bodies on fire safety matters that are very specific to healthcare premises and organisations.

Adrian Parkin, Howorth Medical contracts director, examines the benefits of using a modular approach to operating theatre construction and recommends putting a box around what is designed rather than designing to fit a box

At a recent presentation at the PCT headquarters in Oldham, Dr Tom Makin, of the Department of Medical Microbiology, Royal Liverpool University Hospitals, described the problems associated with Legionella pneumophila. Health Estate Journal reports.

Landscape and urban design practice Colour: Urban Design Limited (UDL) is playing a major role in two major healthcare projects.

A new extension to Birmingham Children’s Hospital has transformed the facility that was created in Victorian times, says Hunter Douglas Façade & Sun Control Systems.

The preferences of children and adolescents regarding hospital environmental characteristics in Iran are studied by Sanaz Litkouhi, Dr Farhang Mozaffar and Dr S. Bagher Hoseini of the Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran; and Prof Dr Eckhart Ribbeck of the Städtebau-Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.

Pointers to improving waste management are provided by Greg Roberts, senior environmental consultant, Hyder Consulting.

Recent amendments to waste legislation and technical guidance have resulted in a number of changes that dictate how the NHS must manage its waste.

Aladin Antic, head of the IT Division, Vamed Management und Service GmbH Deutschland, draws attention to the importance of optimising information technology support for tertiary processes in hospitals.

The way forward for hospital engineering in Europe will clearly require a balance between meeting new expectations and adhering to somewhat restrictive budgets. This was a point reinforced at ECHE 2007, the 2nd European Conference on Healthcare Engineeing, which was held recently in Vienna, Austria. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Those responsible for health estate and facility management need to reinforce their professional stance, gain a louder voice, and comprehensively plan for change. These points were underlined at IHEEM’s 2007 Healthcare Estates Conference, held recently in Harrogate. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Mark Clark, strategic partner manager (Europe, Middle East and Africa – Healthcare), Hitachi Data Systems, looks at meeting the healthcare data challenge with virtualised storage.

Consulting engineer Malcolm Thomas provides an overview of considerations that relate to the design and layout of isolation rooms.

At the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, Italy, as in every hospital with its own clinical electronic machinery, there is a need to keep expensive equipment up and running and well maintained.

Those involved in planning new hospitals and clinics, and in updating existing facilities, need to keep a close watch on how medical technology continues to move forward. MEDICA 2007 will be a major showcase of the latest such technology, as Wilhelm Niedergöker, managing director at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, the organisation which stages the event, describes.