RECENT NEWS

The need to maintain a high quality hotel-like environment while keeping decoration costs to a minimum has led to a major installation of wall protection systems, from contract interior specialists Gradus, at the new PFI Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey has installed the Somatom Sensation 64 and Magnetom Avanto 1.5 scanners from Siemens Medical Solutions in its newly built scanning department.

A consortium of PFI healthcare development specialists, Ryhurst and Sir Robert McAlpine, has been selected to partner Redcar & Cleveland PCT (formerly Langbaraugh PCT) in Teesside to develop a new £30 million integrated hospital and health centre in Redcar.

Ailsa Clews, an employee of food and facilities management services provider Sodexho Healthcare, has been awarded the title of Sodexho Healthcare Manager of the Year 2007 for her ongoing hard work and commitment as hotel services manager at the Gilbert Bain Hospital, Shetland Islands.

Following on from its appointment as client advisor on the £24 m state-of-the-art Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in February 2006, White Young Green (WYG) has been selected to undertake a design engineering role on the £2 m fit-out of the third floor of the building.

During a visit to the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals Trust, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced that a preferred bidder had been appointed to build a new £228 million hospital. Construction of the hospital, at Pembury, close to Tunbridge Wells, is now scheduled to begin.

The new £25 million Walkergate Park Hospital in Newcastle, designed by P+HS Architects, has been officially opened by paralympic wheelchair athlete Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Among new members to have been recently welcomed into the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management is Ray Foley MSc MAPM MIET MIHEEM, who writes:

IHEEM is staging two waste management seminars in February to help members keep up-to-date with the latest legislation.

DDC Dolphin recently addressed IHEEM’s London Branch on theory and best practice relating to hospital sluice rooms.

Healthcare Estates 2008 is to be staged at the Harrogate International Centre on 14 and 15 October.

Space Air Solutions, distributor of the Daikin Siesta 7 Flashstreamer air purifier, is offering the system until 31 January, 2008 for £319 (including VAT and delivery), a £40 saving on the recommended price.

West Middlesex University Hospital is to be one of the first UK hospitals to introduce uniforms as standard for its doctors. From October 2007 all of West Middlesex’s junior doctors will be provided with blue tunic uniforms, which are made of infection-fighting fabric from Toray Textiles Europe.

The £2.3 million Brune Medical Centre development in Gosport has been officially handed over to Hampshire PCT by Solent Community Solutions (SCS).

This year’s JCT Povey Lecture, which takes place on Thursday, 15 November at the Institute of Physics in London, will be given by Bob White, chairman of Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment, non-executive chairman of Mace and chief executive of Building Futures Limited. The subject will be “innovation in the change agenda”.

According to the Healthcare Commission, the NHS needs to ensure that it consistently acts on and learns from complaints by patients. Publishing the first audit of how well the NHS handles complaints, the watchdog says it has found considerable variation in performance across the country.

Trevor Wills is joining the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust as director of estates and facilities, based in Reading.

Off-site construction specialist and Portakabin subsidiary Yorkon has won a £1.5 m healthcare building contract at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

Working with developers Laing O’Rourke, and consultants AE Robb and WSP, P+HS Architects has announced the start of work on site to deliver an £8.9 million primary care centre in Washington, Tyne and Wear, as part of the NHS ProCure21 programme.

A survey of senior healthcare policy makers and advisors across the European Union shows widespread support for an increase in Early Health initiatives such as prevention, screening and early diagnosis, but not at the expense of current healthcare budgets allocated for treatment.