RECENT NEWS

Howorth Air Technology has won a major service and validation contract with private healthcare specialist Spire Healthcare, covering all Spire’s ultraclean and general operating theatres, and including microbiological testing in the general theatres.

IHEEM’s Hong Kong branch has recently seen 23 new members join. To mark this “unprecedented” influx, senior branch personnel, including Committee members,

Joining the Institute recently as a new member is Syed Naseeruddin (pictured), who has over 30 years’ experience in the design and construction management of healthcare facilities, institutional and commercial buildings, and power projects.

Following its successful participation in “The Big Bang Young Scientists’ & Engineers’ Fair” at Manchester Central in March (HEJ – February, March, April and May 2010), IHEEM has announced its support for next year’s event, to be held at the ICC London ExCel on 10-12 March 2011.

If you have not been to Healthcare Estates recently, or indeed ever, you may not realise what you have been missing. The event has grown substantially over recent years, and is now the largest dedicated event focused on health estates and facilities management in Europe.

At this month’s Healthcare Estates 2010 event (see also pages 6 and 7 of this issue) the Institute will launch its new website, and provide visitors to the IHEEM stand with an opportunity to see the new site in action.

Intuitive way-finding principles, courtyards that allow patients and visitors clear views over the whole site, diagnostic and treatment facilities on the ground floor, and modern materials described as sympathetic to both the existing listed buildings on the site, and to the rural setting, are all key features of the new £16.5 million Braintree Community Hospital in Essex.

IHEEM is at heart a professional development organisation, dedicated to providing opportunities for members and non-members alike to maintain and update their knowledge.

NHS Supply Chain has launched a leasing contract to help NHS Trusts access the latest technology “at a time when capital budgets are constrained”. Trusts will be able to compare and contrast deals from 20 leasing companies.

Delegates at a recent seminar organised by the charity PhoneAbility at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in London called for a “national coherent plan” for fully integrated systems and services which meet the needs of disabled and older people.

Tynetec, a leading UK supplier of telecare and remote health equipment, has bought the Aid Call Healthcare division, for an undisclosed sum. Aid Call Ltd, which is wholly owned by Age Concern Enterprises, says it wishes to focus fully on the further development of its “core personal care products”.

How control systems can ensure renewables “deliver on their promises” – both in terms of carbon savings and financial payback; getting the best from existing HVAC infrastructure,

A 10,000 m2 boulevard that will link each part of the hospital complex, providing direct, easy access to all the site’s facilities, has been officially unveiled two weeks ahead of schedule as the final stage of the £500 million Central Manchester University Hospitals complex.

A new £19.5 million Hartlepool healthcare facility features three attractive floor finishes from commercial vinyl manufacturer Polyflor’s Expona Design luxury vinyl tile collection.

Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES), one of the UK’s largest mechanical and electrical building services businesses, has been awarded a £6.7 million contract by Vinci to design and install mechanical and electrical services for a new primary care and treatment centre, the St Catherine’s Health Centre, in Birkenhead on the Wirral, for Wirral NHS Trust.

A planning application for a new community hospital in Cockermouth, Cumbria, has been submitted to local authority Allerdale Borough Council. Last November the town experienced severe flooding, and since then a temporary portable cabin-type village on the existing hospital site has been used to house local GP practices.

The Engineering Council says a recent survey of registered engineers “provides sound evidence” that those holding the professional engineering qualifications Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng), or Engineering Technician (EngTech), are likely to have held on to their jobs during the recession.

Post-mortem rooms within the mortuary at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham incorporate Brandon Medical medical lighting and audiovisual equipment.

Tens of thousands of patients annually are still being placed in mixed sex accommodation without clinical justification, new data released by the Department of Health suggest.

A drug safety safety expert has warned nearly 70 medical experts at an educational study day of regulators’ increasing concern that cold chain pharmaceutical products are being damaged by unacceptable temperatures and humidity during shipment or storage.