FEATURE ARTICLES

Medical speech recognition systems have advanced significantly, and healthcare facility managers need up-to-date knowledge of the latest features and benefits in order to be able to assist with system choice. Health Estate Journal reports on how a company has moved the technology forward.

Charles Barrett, senior surveyor at Oakleaf, describes how new surveying technology helped produce accurate plans of a 19th Century mental health facility.

Health Estate Journal reviews ‘The Way Forward for NHS Health Informatics’, a report by the BCS Health Informatics Forum Strategic Panel on behalf of the British Computer Society (BCS). The report title carries the subsidiary wording ‘Where should NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CfH) go from here?’

Building for Health is a new event taking place at London’s Earls Court 2 from 27 February to March 1. The event is one of five exhibitions being staged under the umbrella title Innovations for the Built Environment – the other shows are Futurebuild, Ecobuild, Cityscape and Regenex.

Plasterboard has become a choice construction material in the healthcare sector because it provides economical solutions for key requirements in modern hospitals, says Spencer Maynard, technical specification manager, Knauf Drywall.

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature describes further thoughts from over 50 years ago on the importance of anti-infection precautions. Published below is a slightly edited version of part two of a paper by A.F. Dence MA (Oxon) which was published in the April 1950 edition of The Hospital Engineer (the official journal of the Institution of Hospital Engineers, now IHEEM). The first part of the paper, which appeared in the January 1950 edition of The Hospital Engineer, was republished, with minor alterations, in the January 2007 edition of Health Estate Journal.

Ensuring that a hospital’s lifts operate safely ranks as one of the most important responsibilities of a health estate manager. Eamonn Reid, sales director at lift technology expert LiftStore, highlights some key issues.

The recently published operating framework for the NHS in England describes priorities for the year ahead – including the tackling of healthcare-associated infections and the driving forward of effective information technology solutions.

Dr K. C. Lam of the Department of Building Services Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explains how to create and implement a successful maintenance programme.

John Colquhoun, principal, Bassett Kuttner Collins, building services consulting engineers, describes the largest hospital redevelopment project ever undertaken in Victoria, Australia. This article was previously published in The Australian Engineer, the journal of the Institute of Hospital Engineering Australia, and its publication in Health Estate Journal has been facilitated by the International Federation of Hospital Engineering.

`John Long, settling into his new role as IHEEM chief executive, tells James Verrinder about significant challenges ahead.

A review from ELGA Process Water of the innovative water treatment systems it supplied to Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital with automatic overnight hot water sanitisation.

Facilities managers need strong, reliable partners more than ever, yet businesses that are prepared to truly embrace and support the specific needs of FMs are few and far between. Brian Smithers of WF Electrical argues that this situation has to change.

With changes ahead to some Health Technical Memorandums (HTMs) and the recently revised HTM 64, architects and specifiers need to make sure they are adhering to the regulations, says Peter Pegden, head of product development at Sirrus by Gummers.

Relatively small investment in modern technology can significantly improve security in healthcare, says Alan Hazell, UK sales manager for leading electronic security solutions provider Secom plc.

Muhammed Ali Ghori from Integra Precision Engineering explains how a shared attitude with an NHS estate manager led to the development of unique anti-ligature windows and frames.

Tim Lambert, sales manager at Purite Ltd, explains how the latest water purification technology is helping hospital sterile services departments in the battle against hospital acquired infections.

Independent consultant Barry Trindall MSc asks if patient hotels could be the answer to reducing revenue costs and improving Trust accommodation standards.

Iduun Rodziewicz from Optikinetics explains how the concept of ambient lighting effects is proving to be the way forward in therapy units and clinical practices.

Martin Allen, managing director for Pointsec Mobile Technologies looks at ways in which the healthcare sector can maximise IT data protection strategies.