RECENT NEWS

Following its successful participation in the same event last November, IHEEM will again be involved in the National Engineering and Construction Recruitment Exhibition, to be held on 6 and 7 May at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

Three IHEEM head office staff – recruitment and membership manager Chris Parker, accounts manager Annabelle Morgan, and administration officer Danielle Silman, manned a joint stand with 3M at this year’s Big Bang: UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair last month at London’s ExCeL exhibition centre.

During this month, members of the Institute will receive their copy of the “IHEEM Awards 2011” booklet. Now in their third year following relaunch, the IHEEM Annual Awards have become a popular feature at the dinner held at the annual IHEEM Conference.

IHEEM’s Conference Committee is currently assessing the papers that have recently been submitted for this year’s Healthcare Estates conference, which takes place at Manchester Central from 1-2 November, with the final programme expected to be announced next month.

A new care home for the elderly with integrated nursery, set in the heart of an “eco-district”, is France’s first healthcare facility to implement copper touch surfaces to help reduce infection risk.

The LIFT Council has welcomed the new Health and Social Care Bill, but warns the Government must make sure it “does not allow estate ownership issues to jeopardise its ambitions for healthcare reform”.

Capita Symonds has been appointed by NHS Scotland’s Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) as survey partner for Phase 2 of the implementation of an estates asset management system for the Scottish NHS estate.

The CARITAS Project, founded by US “architect and visionary” Wayne Ruga as a global enterprise “committed to creating transformational environments that enhance human health”, is calling for entries for its Generative Space Award.

Engineering is “almost invisible to young people” due to inadequate careers education and guidance, says the UK’s engineering profession.

Britplas, which doubled its turnover last year, has launched a new slimline aluminium profile for its popular patented Safevent window system.

A new off-site manufactured CHP boilerhouse is helping Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust to improve energy efficiency. Following a Carbon Trust feasibility study, The Birmingham Women’s Hospital identified that installing CHP would enable the Edgbaston facility to reduce its energy costs and carbon emissions by generating its own electricity.

BMI’s The Ridgeway Hospital in Swindon has unveiled plans for a £3.2 m development programme that will provide a third new operating theatre, extension to the main hospital reception, a refurbishment of the existing pharmacy, and new consultation rooms.

Airwave Healthcare has supplied and installed a new 600 bed digital free-view television system across 23 wards at the new Peterborough City Hospital – in both single and multi-bedded rooms and within renal department wards.

Over 700 staff at Scotland’s State Hospital high security psychiatric facility in Lanarkshire, currently undergoing a £67 million re-build by Skanska (HEJ – November 2010), are now equipped with Bosch PSMicro staff attack devices with a “man down” feature, enabling them to generate an alarm in an emergency wherever they are on the campus.

MITIE has been awarded a framework agreement by national procurement partner for all UK public services, Buying Solutions, for NHS building and engineering maintenance services – making it (the company says) the only outsourcer licensed to bid for contracts across 15 service areas.

A new “Rapid Fix” podcast from Construction Specialties (C/S) (available to view at: www.cs-finishingschool.com) .

A “definitive new best practice document” on the safe use of telehandlers has been launched by the British Industrial Truck Association’s (BITA) Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group.

The BIFM Awards for 2011 are now open for entry. Categories include:

The 4th European Conference on Healthcare Engineering is taking place at the Palais des Congrès de Paris (pictured) from 30 May to 1 June.

January this year saw the launch of the inaugural IHEEM international travel bursary award. (HEJ – January 2011) This award is one of the ways in which the Institute is seeking to develop opportunities for members to develop their careers, and is open to all Graduate and young members.