RECENT NEWS

The Government last month published details of a ‘new approach’ to public/private partnerships – PF2, following ‘a broad-based engagement process’ last year that sought views on how the existing PFI system could be reformed.

Up to £50 million in Department of Health funding is to be made available to NHS Trusts and local authorities, working in partnership with care providers, ‘to help tailor hospitals and care homes to the needs of people with dementia’.

New Energy Management (NEM) has launched in the UK the IMECA Legionella Control System, which is claimed to provide ‘24/7 protection’ against microorganisms in water systems, and to be ‘proven to be effective’ against bacteria, fungi, spores, micro-plasma and viruses, including Legionella and Pseudomonas.

Vernacare has been highly commended in the 2012 Manufacturer of the Year Awards – joining an elite group of finalists, including BAE Systems, Coca-Cola, Ford, Rolls Royce, Sony, and United Biscuits.

IHEEM has available a number of fully funded (no cost) invitations to the NHS Sustainable Development 2013 Conference and Exhibition, to be held at the Brewery Conference Centre in London on 14 February.

A newly promoted Estates Officer at the Bradford District Care Trust, who began his working life as an apprentice electrician aged 16, and whose varied subsequent career has seen him spend 19 years in the NHS, is among the latest tranche of new IHEEM Associate Members (listed right).

IHEEM is supporting Climate Week 2013, which will take place from 4-10 March, and is being backed by numerous business organisations, local government and educational establishments, scientific bodies, professional Institutes, the third sector, and a wide range of high profile individuals.

The IHEEM enewsletter has just passed its first anniversary and, the Institute’s recruitment and membership manager, Chris Parker says, ‘has quickly been recognised as a primary source of up-to-date information on all that goes on within IHEEM’.

Cadogans, a specialist engineering consultancy that says it strives to treat its clients as if they are ‘part of its in-house team’, has joined IHEEM as a Company Affiliate. Team leader, Building Services, Gerry Brannigan, said:

Nine months before the event opens, the Healthcare Estates 2013 conference, exhibition, and dinner, are ‘well on the way to being even more successful than in 2012’, says show director, Steve Webb.

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has raised concerns around ‘the delays’ by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in announcing 2013 revisions to the Building Regulations, and in particular Part L.

The NHS made ‘a substantial amount of efficiency savings’ in 2011-12, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report published on 11 December. However the NAO says these savings will need to be ‘sustained and built on’ if the NHS is to generate its ‘target’ of up to £20 billion of savings in the four years to 2014-15.

Puresep Technologies and Environmental Water Systems (UK) say they will continue ‘as leading brands’ in their respective markets as a new parent name, Envirogen Water Technologies, is revealed for the UK and European operations. The announcement follows the official merger of the two water treatment and filtration specialists in January 2012.

The Wandsworth Group has appointed Charlie Salter as its new non-executive chairman, with a remit to ensure that the company capitalises on its ‘market-leading technology’, and long heritage, to spearhead growth.

Hot on the heels of winning the H&V News Award for ‘Air Conditioning Product of the Year’, Nationwide Filter Company’s (NFC) Bacticell air filter cartridge has been crowned Sustainable Product of the Year by Heating & Ventilating Review.

Barts Health NHS Trust in London’s achievement in reducing its water consumption by over 30 per cent since 2009 at The Royal London Hospital, the London Chest Hospital, and Barts Hospital, saving 100 million litres in the process, was recognised recently at The Environment Agency and Waterwise bi-annual UK Water Efficiency Awards 2012.

Sweett Group, the international property and infrastructure consultancy, has secured a commission to provide cost management services on a 190,000 m2 hospital development in Hong Kong.

UV disinfection specialist, Hanovia, has appointed Tim McDougle as its new sales and marketing director. With over 20 years’ experience in the water industry, he joins from Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies, a subsidiary of Veolia Environment.

Brandon Medical, in partnership with Esa Grimma, a specialist in secure and efficient electrical distribution and control, has launched an isolated power supply (IPS) planning tool.

CCube Solutions has been selected by the Aneurin Bevan Health Board to deliver a Trust-wide electronic document and records management system (EDRMS), reportedly the first to be used in the Welsh NHS.