RECENT NEWS

Howorth Airtech has announced the completion of its first turnkey project with The London Clinic – the design and construction of a cutting-edge operating theatre, purpose-built to accommodate robotic surgery.

While renewing and refurbishing its coal fired Energy Centre, Doncaster Royal Infirmary has installed three prefabricated and temporary burner/boiler units to maintain the hospital’s supply of heat and steam during the re-build programme.

Health PFI specialist Ryhurst in partnership with Barclays Capital, has recently completed and handed over state-of-the-art facilities at Blackberry Hill Hospital in Bristol to the Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The handover follows the completion of the first of 14 facilities on six sites, forming a £64.5 million PFI project known as the Avon Project, the UK’s largest mental health PFI to date.

Sheppard Robson’s exemplar design for a new £75 million surgical centre for Taunton & Somerset NHS Trust has received outline planning consent. The design will act as the Public Sector Comparator and will form the basis of the tender invitation documents for the PFI procurement process.

The new Sheppard Robson designed landmark Birmingham Treatment Centre, which was officially opened at the end of 2005, incorporates a new approach to hospital design and assists in the regeneration and improvement of the surrounding urban environment. The new facility is said to represent a step change in the provision of treatment centres.

Contractor Osborne is overseeing the construction of a new radiation unit at the Mount Vernon Cancer Treatment Centre in Northwood, Middlesex (as first reported in HEJ Aug 05, p13). The company’s involvement has greatly developed since its original contract began with the NHS Trust. While carrying out the enabling works package, it was invited to tender for the foundations, which were later awarded. This then led to Osborne managing the installation of the new pods, cladding and procurement of the roof structure.

Edenbrook, one of the UK’s fastest growing independent technology companies, has announced the signing of a two year contract with BUPA worth over £5 million to develop new systems to support its membership business.

IHEEM member Steve Shutler has formed part of a team which has purchased licensed asbestos contracting company Burton Environmental Services (BES). The other two new owners are existing directors Martin Drury and Ron Cowen.

The Concrete Society has further strengthened its position by completing the acquisition of information and library service Concrete Information Limited (CIL).

Building Design Partnership was voted “Health Building Architect of the Year” in the 2005 Architect of the Year Awards held in London last November. The awards scheme aims to identify the most outstanding architects across a range of different types of design work, and the awards in eleven categories were presented to the firms that are delivering the best and most consistent work.

Specialist healthcare and education firm of architects, Nightingale Associates has moved its London office from Hatton Street into newly refurbished offices in Newman Street, W1. The move allows a consolidation of several tribal businesses under one roof while providing the London team with more space and an improved working environment.

Rickmansworth-based regional contracting company Kier Southern has secured further work at Ealing Hospital in West London, where it is currently building a new cardiac catheter laboratory. The latest award, creating the hospital’s first MRI scanner suite, is valued at £2.5 million and brings the total value of work on site to over £4 million. Both contracts have been awarded to Kier Southern as an approved contractor under the NHS Estates ProCure21 framework agreement.

With proposals to change the delivery of health services across County Durham and Tees Valley and parts of North Yorkshire likely to impact on how some hospital patients, visitors and staff travel, the NHS Joint PCT Committee has appointed JMP Consulting to provide transport advice.

Baxter Healthcare has announced a further investment of £550,000 to the recently opened new pharmacy unit at the Christie Hospital to ensure the future provision of chemotherapy and other essential drug therapies for patients in the North West is met.

The NHS has for many years built, managed and used its own facilities management (FM) software and the most recent version of this, Eclipse-fm, has been recently updated with new modules. Built with more than 25 years of NHS experience, Eclipse-fm has been designed specifically for the Health Service with input from NHS Trust staff from throughout the UK. Users report that the software, provided by the Healthcare Facilities Consortium (HFC), a not for profit company and IHEEM Corporate Affiliate, is exceptionally flexible and designed to adapt to the varying needs of estates and facilities professionals across the breadth of the NHS.

The Department of Health has issued a statement confirming that following the recent appointment of Rob Smith as director of estates and facilities management, ProCure21 transferred from its interim position in the Commercial Directorate to the DH Estates and Facilities Management division, from January 2006. The final decision about its fit with current estates developments will be made by the Estates Division in due course.

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust has selected The Investors in the Community Programme, managed by Mill Group, as preferred bidder for Northampton’s £34 million PFI mental health facility project.

In an effort to continue to develop capacity and the E&FM (estates and facilities management) workforce during 2006, a new project has been set up with Department of Health (DH) Estates and Facilities to ensure that the good work and learning gained, continues after the abolition of NHS Estates and its previous partner the NHS University. The project will be led by David Whiteley and project managed by Ruth Benjamin.

Two intensive two-day courses covering law, procedure, report writing and oral evidence skills for professionals undertaking expert witness work are to be held by InPractice and the Inns of Court School of Law, City University, London.

Earthing, supply impedence, adjacent voltages, resilience and circuit relationships are some of the key electrical safety topics addressed by MEIGan, a medical equipment installation guidance document issued by MHRA.