RECENT NEWS

The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has purchased the AXIOM Iconos R200 from Siemens Medical Solutions to improve workflow and precision in patient diagnosis.

Rydon Group, the construction, development and property maintenance company, has recruited David Hay as the new managing director of of Ryhurst Limited, the specialist PFI arm of the Group.

Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital is launching an 18-month clinical trial to establish whether copper surfaces can combat MRSA and other hospitalacquired infections.

Kenway Court, a new John Grooms’ residential home for disabled adults in Southendon- Sea, has welcomed its first residents. Designed by Norwich and London-based LSI Architects, the 24-place registered care home with nursing for the John Grooms Charity has been designed to support independence and accessible accommodation to the highest standards for its residents with physical disability.

A fully portable surgical operating theatre powered by solar, pedal, or wind energy has been developed by a team of medical professionals in Kent that will offer life-saving surgical treatment to people living in some of the most remote and hostile parts of the world.

The £62.5 million Brent Emergency Care and Diagnostic Centre (BECaD) at Central Middlesex Hospital, Park Royal, London, has completed. The scheme was designed by HLM Architects in association with Avanti Architects and constructed by Bouygues (UK) through the PFI form of procurement.

Cambridge-based Cound Webber Architects is further expanding its design team with the appointment of architectural technician Alan Baker.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has thrown its weight behind the RIBA’s proposals that design issues should be considered at the early stages of PFI projects.

The Engineering Council UK (ECUK) is pressing for greater Government action to protect the status of UK integrated Master’s Degrees from threats posed by the “Bologna process” under which 45 European countries have agreed to align their higher education systems.

Pamela Greenwood has recently joined IHEEM as accounts manager while Marie Davey is away on maternity leave.

Due to popular demand, IHEEM will be hosting a further seminar titled “Decontamination: Focus on HTM 01” on 6 June in Birmingham.

Information has been provided by the Department of Health Estates and Facilities Division relating to changes to the surgical instrument decontamination guidance revision programme arising from the NICE recommendations and ESAC-Pr stakeholder consultation.

All IHEEM members are invited to join the IHEEM President, Phil Nedin, at the IHEEM Annual AGM, 15th May 2007, Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London.

The first image of Southend Hospital’s multi-million pound redevelopment plan has been released by the master planners of the scheme, LSI Architects.

Lawyers from Addleshaw Goddard’s national projects team closed 13 major PPP and PFI deals across a range of sectors including housing, education, health and utilities, in an eight week period.

Hornagold & Hills has completed the construction of the new James Black Centre at King’s College London.

About 40 light bulbs have been removed from hospital corridors at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, the BBC has reported.

A new £6 million nursing home has been opened on the site of the former St Vincent’s Hospital at Pinner, Middlesex. The 18 acre home, built by construction contractor Osborne, can accommodate 60 beds in single occupancy rooms.

Decontamination and sterile services provider Sterience is now focusing on providing services through partnership agreements with Trusts. Specifically aimed at upgrading existing hospital provision, the service will encompass investment in new equipment and TUPE issues to retain existing on-site skills while enhancing capabilities. This new focus for the UK follows the decision by Sterience to withdraw from participation in the National Programme as a result of recent events within this scheme.

The new state-of-the-art Longview centre in Huyton, Merseyside, has been officially opened.