RECENT NEWS

An IHEEM seminar providing guidance on electrical installation for healthcare premises being held in Leeds next month and in London in early March will consider, among other topics, current regulations and legislation, and the first amendment to BS 7671: 2008 (17th edition Wiring Regulations), due to come into force on 1 January, 2012.

Members will by now have received their notice of year 2011 membership subscriptions and any additional professional registration subscriptions if appropriate.

IHEEM’s Council is seeking to fill two interim vacancies, and is keen to receive applications from Institute members in the East Anglia and South West Branch areas who wish to be considered, in accordance with its Articles of Association. The IHEEM governing Council holds the Institute in “trust” for current and future beneficiaries, and has responsibility for managing its business.

Working with you to develop your career” is a strapline familiar to the many visitors to the IHEEM website since its October 2010 launch. As a practical example of the way IHEEM is seeking to foster opportunities for members to develop their careers, the Institute is launching an international travel bursary award for 2011.

The Institute has issued a “Call for proposals” (see also “flyer” within this issue) for this year’s Healthcare Estates event, which is taking place at Manchester Central on 1-2 November.

Firmly in the tradition of past IHEEM annual conferences, the presentations at Healthcare Estates 2011 in November, themed “Improving healthcare outcomes through innovation”, will reflect both the impact of changing thinking on the way healthcare should be provided in the future, and the economic challenges against which estates and facilities personnel must fulfil their onerous role.

A “green power generation” initiative at Solihull Hospital that will reportedly cut carbon dioxide emissions by 45% has won recognition. The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and technology partner ENER-G received the Combined Heat and Power Association’s (CHPA) Public Sector Award for their trigeneration scheme.

Simon Burns, Minister of State for Health, has officially opened Dudley Primary Care Trust’s Brierley Hill Health & Social Care Centre in the West Midlands (HEJ – September 2010).

A cabinet that uses “patentprotected 360 degree fullbeam UVC decontamination technology” to disinfect medical equipment in 90 seconds has been successful trialled by the University College London (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust.

Vanguard Healthcare, which claims to design and operate the world’s largest fleet (38 in all) of mobile healthcare facilities,

A “new and unique” dental instrument decontamination training course which can be completed online is now available from Eastwood Park Training.

BSI has launched a new Kitemark scheme for visual alarm devices for products manufactured in accordance with EN 54-23:2010.

Barclays Corporate has secured a £3 million asset finance line for InHealth Group to fund the purchase of new diagnostic equipment.

Bailey Maintenance, the specialist maintenance arm of one of the UK’s leading independent building services providers, NG Bailey, has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of Jon Lucas to the newlycreated position of strategic accounts director.

The primary care sector could save more than £47 million over the next five years via better energy efficiency practices, a new report commissioned by the LIFT Council suggests.

Ecovert FM has completed the new garden room in a ground-level courtyard of Barnet Hospital. Constructed by sister company Icel Group, it offers a healing environment for families of patients at the end of life.

Bristol Maid says its new “eClean” healthcare furniture range “sets the standard in functionality and ease of cleaning”, with the Chesterfield Royal Hospital having already equipped wards with the new eClean bedside cabinet, and clinical trials ongoing at the seven UK “showcase hospitals” (HEJ – June 2009) as part of the Department of Health’s HCAI Technology Innovation Programme launched in 2008.

BSI (the British Standards Institution) has published a new standard /code of practice for facility designers, owners, and operators to ensure that design takes account of the expected performance of the facility in use.

Partners Heart of Birmingham teaching Primary Care Trust, NHS South Birmingham, BaS LIFT, and Prime, have signed contracts to deliver the new £13 million Attwood Green Health Centre to replace Colston Health Centre on Bath Row in Birmingham.

Managed equipment services (MES) provider to the NHS, Asteral, was recently awarded a contract by University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust to deliver digital breast screening technology housed in three mobile units.