RECENT NEWS

The two recent articles, in the August and September editions of Health Estate Journal, on the subject of thermometry raise a number of interesting points and issues worthy of further debate, writes Mike Arrowsmith, HEJ technical editor.

Washington Accord: The number of countries signed up to this mutual recognition agreement increased in the summer when JABEE (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) became a full signatory.

IHEEM is drawing further attention to its firm intention to improve communication with members.

It may come as a surprise to learn that IHEEM’s membership base is predominately within the private sector, with only 40% of its membership working for the NHS, writes Tammy Simmons, the Institute’s recruitment manager.

Engineers and architects can now modify and adapt to customer needs and facility changes at the touch of a button with the new Touch Screen Theatre Control Panel (eTCP). The product allows re-designs and modifications at any time without impacting performance, lead time or project handover.

To help hospital authorities in their fight against infection and crosscontamination that lead to HAIs, the Silent Gliss system 6100 overhead cubicle curtain track system is now supplied with BioCote surface treatments. The powder coated metal track profile, together with some associated plastic components all now provide a full 24/7 protection against the growth or proliferation of contagious and harmful organisms.

The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) has renewed Redstone Communications’ existing contract as a trusted supplier of communications technologies, helping NHS organisations to increase efficiency, save costs, improve productivity and, above all, deliver benefits.

Singer Ronan Keating made a special visit to officially open the West Anglia Pathology Services Cytology Screening Unit in Newmarket recently. The unit analyses cervical smear tests, providing a service for women across much of South Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk.

Julian E. Markham CBE FRICS FRSA has been elected chairman of the College of Estate Management at the University of Reading. The college is the leading provider of distance learning for the estates profession. It also provides a range of research work and special tailored tuition for the profession and industry.

Foremans Relocatable Building Systems has had a highly productive summer, with the launch in July of a new website for pre-owned modular buildings, closely followed by a warranty package for health authorities and Trusts covering the structure and external fabric of Foremans supplied modular systems for healthcare.

The £4.8 million Oak Park Children’s Services Centre in Havant is being built by Bluestone’s Fareham office for SCS under a Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) Framework Agreement, and is on target for completion next February. The new centre will house a full range of treatment facilities from community paediatrics and physiotherapy, to child and family therapy and adolescent mental health. It will also provide a base for local community staff.

A £1.4 million project to create the Churchill Gisburn Clinic adult psychiatric facility in Lancashire has been completed for Covenant Healthcare by contractor Multibuild. The acute psychiatric unit has been designed to provide male patients with a tranquil environment and consists of 16 private bedrooms with en-suite facilities, a communal day room, dining room, gymnasium, games room, therapy rooms and consultation rooms.

Rehau has demonstrated its strength in the public sector with a contract to install both underfloor heating and cable management systems in the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at Manchester’s new Withington Community Hospital.

Solray radiant panels from Comyn Ching & Co are providing the hygienic, low maintenance heating on landmark PFI hospital project, the James Cook University Hospital, part of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust.

Recent and ongoing research by Professor Bill Keevil and Dr Jonathan Noyce at the University of Southampton has shown that copper inactivates disease-causing germs on its surface in as little as 90 minutes. Studies have clearly demonstrated such an antimicrobial effect on a range of microbes including MRSA, E. coli 0157, Listeria monocytogenes and other hospital-acquired infections.

Wychavon District Council has appointed Millbridge to provide project management services for a 38,750 ft2 new build health centre with primary care facilities and a 26 bed cottage hospital at Pershore in Worcestershire.

Off-site construction specialist and Portakabin subsidiary Yorkon has been awarded its second contract for a new independent treatment centre for the NHS. The £6 million contract awarded by AMEC is for a purposedesigned rainscreen-clad modular building at St Mary’s Hospital in Portsmouth.

The Department of Health has signed a contract with the O2 Airwave network to provide a new digital radio and communications system for NHS Ambulance Trusts in England. The contract is worth £390 million over the next 13 years.

The Healthcare Commission has published the annual star ratings of performance for NHS Trusts in England. Overall the ratings show an improvement in the performance of the NHS against tougher waiting time targets for outpatient appointments and operations, as well as lower death rates for cancer and heart disease.

Following a review of audiology services in Scotland that highlighted the need for radical improvement to bring them in line with the rest of the UK, audiometric facility manufacturer IAC of Winchester has so far provided new audiology facilities for adult and paediatric testing on seven sites across Scotland to a total value of over £500,000.