RECENT NEWS

A new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at the Newmarket Community Hospital has been completed by Morgan Sindall Construction, and handed over to West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT).

Community Health Partnerships (CHP) has appointed Stephen Talboys, Chief Operating Officer – Campus 2030 for the Open University (pictured), as its new Chief Property Officer – an executive and Board Director position.

Following the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s recent announcement of £100 million in Great British Energy funding for the NHS to install solar power and battery storage solutions, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded £1.13m to install solar panels at the Northern General Hospital, Jessop Wing Hospital, and three community properties.

Offsite construction specialist, Merit, has been appointed by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to design and build its new Hybrid Theatre and MRI Facility at York Hospital (see artist’s impression), with completion expected this November.

Specialist in complete temperature control solutions, ICS Cool Energy, in partnership with construction company, Vinci, has successfully completed a critical cooling system upgrade at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington.

Stepnell has secured a place on the latest NHS Shared Business Services framework agreement, ‘supporting the long-term decarbonisation strategy of healthcare estates nationwide’.

‘Hundreds’ of schools, NHS Trusts, and communities across the UK will benefit from new rooftop solar power and renewable schemes to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a total £200 million investment from the UK government and Great British Energy, it was announced on 21 March.

NHS Property Services has launched its new Green Plan, a comprehensive three-year strategy which it says is aimed at reducing the environmental impact of NHS facilities, and ‘progressing towards a Net Zero carbon future’ by 2040.

Centrica Business Solutions has extended its two decade-long partnership with Solihull Hospital, and announced plans to develop a new energy centre for it as it continues to decarbonise the hospital’s estate and ‘unlock significant savings’.

Global multidisciplinary engineering and design consultant, Cundall, says the appointment of Jordan Mason as an associate director, based in its London office, reflects the business’s ambition to strengthen its science and technology service offering.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has officially become a Trade Associate of the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) – which it says reinforces its commitment to raising standards in construction product information and marketing ‘in the light of the Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report’.

Pre-construction works are underway to start preparing the site for the build of Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, the specialist hospital for the East of England.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (the MHRA) recently welcomed Health Minister, Karin Smyth, to its science campus in South Mimms as part of British Science Week ‘to demonstrate how innovations become safe, effective treatments for NHS patients’.

Involving yourself in shaping planning policy can mean the difference between unlocking millions in funding or facing costly delays.

A webinar to be held by MRI Software in association with Health Estate Journal at 11.00 am on 1 May will focus on ‘the significant challenges the NHS faces in estate and facilities management due to fragmented systems, manual data collection, and inefficiencies’.

Assa Abloy has acquired Senior Architectural Systems Ltd (SAS), an independent aluminium fenestration systems supplier in the UK.

Healthcare engineers looking to get a better understanding of UPS systems in medical environments can learn about the latest guidance on the subject provided by HTM 06-01 in an hour-long free webinar hosted by Kohler Uninterruptible Power in conjunction with Health Estate Journal taking place at 1.00 p.m. on 18 March.

On 13 March – as part of what he dubbed ‘a series of reforms to reduce bureaucracy, make savings, and empower NHS staff to deliver better care for patients’, Prime Minister, Keir Starmer (pictured), announced that NHS England will be abolished over the next two years, with its functions brought back under the auspices of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Parking management specialist, Saba Park Services (UK), has secured a new contract to manage the parking for staff, patients, and visitors, across the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust’s estate.

Efforts to deliver one of the government’s major NHS priorities – to shift more care into the community – will need to be boosted by targeted capital investment in buildings, facilities, and equipment for community providers, a new survey of senior health leaders, undertaken by the Community Network, hosted by the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, suggests.