FEATURE ARTICLES

Peter Gumm, marketing and communications manager, Electrosonic, provides an overview of advanced audio-visual (AV) technology utilisation in the healthcare environment.

As the enforcement date of the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO) draws closer, major changes in fire safety law will mean that the sole responsibility for ensuring fire hazards do not put lives at risk will now rest with the designated “responsible person” for each location. Report by fire safety consultancy firm Fireco.

By exploring the benefits of the latest technology, the estate manager can deliver significant plant room savings and improvements in the medium and long term, says Wayne Rose, product manager of Armstrong, a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of HVAC equipment and off-site manufactured integrated plant rooms.

Ultra-clean ventilation (UCV) is at the heart of infection prevention in an open plan theatre facility created at the Broadgreen Hospital and Cardiothoracic Centre, Liverpool, report Graham Bromley and Robert Brogden.

Challenges involved in reducing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) continue to be significant, and it is highly important that the healthcare environment and medical devices are designed and maintained to minimise infection risks. Health Estate Journal reports on statistics and comments from the Health Protection Agency, and looks at the Department of Health’s draft code of practice for the prevention and control of HCAIs.

11. 3. Lam, of the Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, puts forward – in a two-part article – a maintenance management philosophy designed for the avoidance of failure and the improvement of availability of engineering services. In part one, he examines the assessing and managing of risk, and in part two – to be published in the October edition of Health Estate Journal – he focuses on prediction theory.

This year’s Healthcare Estates Conference and Exhibition will certainly be a must-attend event for those involved in all aspects of estate and facilities management in the healthcare sector, says Phil Nedin, president of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management. The event is being staged at the Harrogate International Centre on 6 and 7 November.

Geoff Dillow, author of Dental Compressed Air and Vacuum Systems – 20031 a supplement to the NHS Estates publication Health Technical Memorandum 2022 Medical Gas Pipeline Systems,2 examines issues surrounding the use of scavenging systems for nitrous oxide during relative analgesia (RA) procedures in dentistry. This article provides practical advice to help reduce unnecessary exposure of staff.

In healthcare, smart tags and packaging are saving lives, preventing illnesses, reducing errors, cutting crime, and sharply lowering costs. Update by Dr Peter Harrop FIEE, chairman, IDTechEX.

Ensuring a healthcare organisation comprehensively meets patients’ new expectations will be a responsibility shared by non-clinical and clinical staff, the recently-held ninth annual conference of The Health Facilities Management Association heard. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Fire alarm system maintenance regimes need not be complex. In this article, Tim Wilcox, fire systems inspector for Static Systems Group, provides a guide to the tasks, requirements and regulations associated with the maintenance of fire alarm systems.

Assistance is now available for cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs.

The Department of Health has set a mandatory target for the NHS to reduce its carbon emissions by 0.15 million tonnes by 2010. Not only does the NHS emit approximately 1 million tonnes of carbon each year, its annual energy bill runs to £400 million.

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature focuses on issues concerning prevention of outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease. The first part of the article is by Mike Arrowsmith BSc (Hons) CEng FIMechE FIHEEM, and the second section consists of a slightly edited version of an article by David Harper Eng Tech MASEE MIHospE MIWSoc that was published in the March 1984 edition of Hospital Engineering, the journal of The Institute of Hospital Engineers (now IHEEM).

Arne Nesje of SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, describes the planning and building of new facilities at St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway. This article is adapted from a paper presented at the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering held in May 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management must move forward determinedly if the latest opportunities are to be seized. Phil Nedin, IHEEM’s new president, answers questions posed by Health Estate Journal about the way ahead.

In October 2005 in northern Pakistan a devastating earthquake destroyed buildings and killed thousands, yet left Kunhar Christian Hospital remarkably still standing. Health Estate Journal reports on efforts to maintain healthcare delivery under extraordinary circumstances.

Ipswich Hospital’s traditional kitchen prepared hot meals for patients twice a day but the healthcare facility’s unusual layout often meant that meals arrived with patients some time after the food had been cooked. Ipswich Hospital wanted to improve its service to patients and called in support services company OCS.

In developing new primary care facilities, a specialised partnership approach is essential, the One Medical organisation finds.

A major step forward in the area of medical imaging has been taken by the largest NHS Trust in Wales.

Health Estate Journal reports on the work of Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council whose aim is to raise productivity by driving up standards and skills in the facilities management sector by ensuring employer input into qualifications and training.