RECENT NEWS

A five-year Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation into “bid rigging” for construction contracts has seen the OFT impose fines totalling £129.3 million on 103 firms in England.

Development of the IHEEM 2010 seminar programme is well under way. Seminars currently “in the pipeline” include:

The organisers of next November’s 21st IFHE (the International Federation of Hospital Engineering) Hospital Engineering Congress in Tokyo promise delegates will not only come away better informed about topics ranging from risk management to heating and ventilation, but will also have experienced and enjoyed the traditional, contemporary, and futuristic aspects of Japan.

Some of the latest materials and related technologies for detecting and combating infection in the healthcare environment, and related recent NHS work through the National Innovation Centre and the HCAI Technology Innovation Programme (HEJ – October 2009) on projects to “banish the bugs”, will be discussed at a London conference on 9 November.

Allies and Morrison and Devereux Architects and the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have launched a “masterplan for the future”, setting out how the city’s famous Addenbrooke’s Hospital will form the heart of the new Cambridge Biomedical Campus, an international centre for patient care, biomedical research and education.

Brandon Medical, the manufacturer of operating theatre equipment and AV systems, is to start production in India under an agreement with Trivitron Healthcare, India’s biggest medical technology provider.

Yorkshire Water has completed a £636,000 project at Airedale General Hospital that should not only ensure secure water supply to all buildings, but was also undertaken with minimal disruption thanks to a technology that does not require excavation of lengthy sections to gain pipework access.

Work has started on a new facility for elderly mental health patients at Walton Hospital in Chesterfield.

Galliford Try has appointed Ian Rains as bid manager within its facilities management division.

Sodexo, the food and facilities management services provider, has appointed Mo Nazir to the role of business development and strategy director for its UK and Ireland healthcare division,

Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) has designed a new entrance pavilion at Mansfield Community Hospital in Nottinghamshire. The building forms part of a wider site redevelopment planned to streamline clinical functions and improve the patient experience.

Mansell has been awarded a contract valued at in excess of £10 million to construct a new Children’s and Young Person’s Centre at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Surrey.

A “definitive practice guide” for all RICS members advising clients on best practice facilities management processes is how the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors describes its new White Book.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Grampian NHS in breach of the Data Protection Act after receiving reports of three separate incidents involving data security at Aberdeen’s Royal Infirmary from the Trust itself.

A new mental health care home in Northampton, designed by David Grindley Architects for Gold Care Homes, has been shortlisted for two national design awards.

CIBSE has launched its fourth “100 Hours of Carbon Clean Up” campaign (HEJ – September 2008), under which it is encouraging organisations to set aside as much time as possible, and ideally at least 100 hours, during the six-week initiative to reduce their buildings’ carbon emissions.

The London Borough of Redbridge (LBR) has granted planning permission for the development of a new, low-secure mental health facility at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford.

The Facilities Management Graduate Centre within the Sheffield Business School at Sheffield Hallam University will now be known as the Centre for Facilities Management Development.

VINCI Park, which claims to be the world’s largest car parking operator, has acquired Karspace Management in a £1 million deal which it says highlights its ambitious growth plans.

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) has issued position papers on energy and skills.