FEATURE ARTICLES

In an exacting project, an industrial building has been transformed into a state-of-the-art surgical instrument decontamination super centre. Health Estate Journal reports.

Ensuring security for more than 2,500 staff at 70 separate premises was a tall task for the East Midlands Ambulance Service Trust (EMAS), Health Estate Journal reports.

North Bristol NHS Trust is one of the largest healthcare provider Trusts in the UK. In partnership with its primary care colleagues, the Trust is currently embarking on an exciting programme of strategic development to reconfigure acute and community healthcare services in North Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

An incisive, personal view of the provision of medical gases is put forward by Melanie van Limborgh, assistant director of nursing, projects and development, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, and immediate past chairman of the Association for Perioperative Practice.

A 15-year PFI partnership between a London NHS Trust and energy management company Dalkia is ensuring a reduction in greenhouse gases and offering extra revenue streams. Health Estate Journal reports.

BUPA Hospitals has recently become independent of the BUPA Group, having been sold to private equity group Cinven. Stressing the importance of appropriate further investment in its care environments, the organisation, now named Spire Healthcare, is set to push standards of private healthcare provision to new levels. Nicholas Marshall reports.

While the programme of building new hospitals seems to be on track, targets for existing estate replacement look unlikely to be reached, and backlog maintenance has increased. These are comments in Our Future Health Secured? – a comprehensive King’s Fund report by Sir Derek Wanless on the unprecedented levels of funding invested by the Government in the NHS over the past five years. Health Estate Journal reports.

There are often unwelcome visitors in hospitals – some potentially harmful. Extermination is the only solution for some pests but there are alternative measures for others, Health Estate Journal discovers.

David Harper, a world-renowned public health consultant on the issues surrounding Legionella, outlined the latest innovations and developments in this area at a conference held by The Healthcare Facilities Consortium at Liverpool’s Hope University in September.

Geoff Dillow, the main author of HTM 08-06: 2007 Pathology Laboratory Gas Systems, examines the new guidance in detail. This article will form the basis of a presentation at the Medical Gas Association AGM on 16 October in Harrogate during the IHEEM Healthcare Estates event. Geoff Dillow is an MGPS Services consultant.

IHEEM’s Healthcare Estates Conference and Exhibition, taking place at the International Centre in Harrogate on 16 and 17 October, will have a number of significant features expected to attract much attention.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has published The National specifications for cleanliness in hospitals, a guideline for meeting new auditing standards that all Trusts must follow.

Benefits of single patient accommodation have been identified and apply in many care settings. Report by Patricia Young of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and Roxanna Yarandipour of Arup.

There is a school of thought that one should never volunteer – and that one should definitely never volunteer to be a pilot or a pathfinder. Introducing Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) into an important clinical support service – traditionally provided in-house – probably added somewhat to the risk profile. Len Wright provides the following article based on a presentation given during a series of IHEEM seminars on HTM01 during 2006 and 2007.

The Pontypridd and Rhondda NHS Trust is a multi-disciplinary Trust in South Wales, with acute, community and mental health facilitates making up a property portfolio of 20 buildings and 90,000m2. The flagship of the Trust is the nucleus design 600-bed Royal Glamorgan Hospital which was commissioned in December 1999 and boasts state of-the-art services in providing healthcare to the population Rhondda Cynon Taf, writes Anthony Hayward.

The completion of a 408 m2 major new aseptic pharmacy unit for the St George’s Hospital NHS Trust, London, is a significant example of the benefits of using modern modular construction techniques compared to a traditional cleanroom build. At every stage from concept through project planning to final completion, the use of modules proved to be the most appropriate for the task. Markus Möllmann, Clean Modules export executive, reports.

Large-scale hospital refurbishments and redecoration programmes are not uncommon in the NHS today. One hospital is pioneering a completely new approach to its refurbishment which could save the UK taxpayer millions of pounds if replicated across other NHS Trusts.

New waste management legislation comes into force later this year which will change the way all organisations deal with waste generated on their premises. The issue of employee recycling participation and the right choice of waste and recycling systems should be high on the agenda for the healthcare sector according to Dr David Gillett, sales and marketing director at Taylor, the UK based waste containment provider.

Healthcare Estates 2007 promises to be the biggest ever, and the opening of an extra exhibition hall will ensure that every aspect of estates management is catered for.

Healthcare Estates is now only a few weeks away and there is still time to register for the event. Exhibition director Colin Williams describes aspects of the event, which takes place in Harrogate on 16 and 17 October at the Harrogate International Centre.