RECENT NEWS

The organisers of this year’s Healthcare Estates event in Manchester say that, based on bookings to date, the venue change appears to be being well received, with the event “on course to be the largest and best-attended ever”.

Five national awards are to be presented by IHEEM in 2010. To be given to recipients during the annual Healthcare Estates conference and exhibition, taking place this year at Manchester Central from 5-6 October, the awards are:

The organisers of next month’s IHEEM-supported “The Big Bang” event, the goal of which is to stimulate young people’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) careers, have repeated their call for volunteers to help ensure that the fair, which is expected to attract thousands of youngsters from across the UK, runs smoothly.

Plans for a new £45 million neuroscience research facility for King’s College London (KCL)’s Denmark Hill campus in south-east London, designed by Devereux Architects and Allies and Morrison Architects (model pictured), have received planning approval.

When the owners of an award-winning nursing home decided to upgrade the 37-bed property they found that Marshall-Tufflex’s Odyssey Bio Trunking Solutions provided the perfect answer for meeting the project’s cable management requirements and delivering a welcome infection control element.

Portakabin’s rapid-response team has installed an interim building for two Cockermouth GP surgeries, which serve 15,000 patients, after their buildings were destroyed in the recent Cumbria floods.

Environment Secretary Dan Norris (pictured) has called on the UK construction industry to “embrace the financial and environmental opportunities waste reduction can offer”.

Durham University and “e-learning company” Marshall ACM have produced a 45-minute online course covering records management/ information security/data protection and Freedom of Information, which is available to any organisation “to help ensure responsible business continuity”.

Authorised NHS staff can now call on anyone causing trouble or nuisance to leave NHS premises and, should they refuse, remove them, following the introduction of new powers under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (CJIA) 2008.

Vanguard Healthcare, the supplier of mobile surgical services, has announced plans to offer its mobile healthcare solutions across Europe.

Doncaster Community Solutions has received full planning permission to build two new healthcare centres, jointly costing over £14 million, in the Dearne Valley and Doncaster town centre.

Blender, re-packer and distributor of speciality gases and chemicals A-Gas says its latest research suggests that, although many health estate managers appear well prepared for the phase out of HCFCs and other ODP (ozone depletion potential) refrigerants, “there is still much confusion”.

The UK’s Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) has taken on a new name, becoming Engineering UK.

Mott MacDonald has been appointed to work with the UK’s largest hospital NHS Trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, to improve the region’s healthcare facilities as part of the Capital Works Building and Engineering Framework.

The 47th edition of MK Electric’s catalogue provides a comprehensive reference guide to one of the largest quality ranges of electrical product and accessories available on the market, the company claims.

Interserve has secured a £500,000, two-year contract from Circle, which claims to be Europe’s largest private healthcare partnership, to provide facilities services including maintenance and cleaning at its new Bath hospital, CircleBath.

An electronic healthcare estates and facilities resource offering access to “hundreds of pre-prepared template documents” has been launched by Empathy Environmental Consultants.

Brandon Medical recently received £50,000 after winning the “Outstanding Business Achievement” award”, as it represented Yorkshire at the British Chambers of Commerce’s Chambers Awards 2009, held at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum.

A new cleanliness specification for healthcare facilities, expected to be published this March, is in development by the Department of Health, the National Patient Safety Agency, and global standards provider BSI.

Monitor has formally intervened to require the appointment of a task force that will work closely with the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to ensure improvements are made within a set timescale after significant deficiencies were found in cleaning, hygiene, infection control, and nursing standards at the Basildon University Hospital.