RECENT NEWS

Marshall-Tufflex’s antimicrobial Bio Trunking Solutions will claim their 15 minutes of fame on national television. The cable management manufacturer has joined forces with NHS247 (www.nhs247.com), an on-line and independent healthcare website, to discuss infection control within hospitals and other healthcare environments.

Staff who had delivered some of the first training courses at Eastwood Park, the Gloucestershire-based training establishment for hospital support services (HEJ – Septermber 2009), were among the 70 guests to attend a recent 40th anniversary reception.

Vernacare has doubled production of its single-use wash bowl to meet worldwide demand in the fight against hospital-acquired infections.

Hot on the heels of the “Design Bugs Out” initiative (HEJ – June 2009), which saw designers, the Design Council, and the Department of Health’s HCAI Technology Innovation Programme work together to develop infection-beating products, a further collaborative innovation scheme has been launched, this time focusing on patient privacy and dignity.

Ten pre-owned steel-framed modules recycled and refurbished for the project, enabling it to be competed in just 11 weeks, form a new theatre training centre at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne – reportedly the North of England’s first clinical training facility of its kind.

Luton & Dunstable NHS Foundation Trust has engaged Medical Air Technology to add a further 130 m2 operating theatre to increase the Luton and Dunstable Hospital’s capacity to undertake orthopaedic surgery.

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.