RECENT NEWS

A new Varian radiotherapy treatment machine has been installed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) ‘to provide state-of-the-art care’ for cancer patients.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has welcomed another intervention by England’s Chief Medical Officer in the controversy surrounding poor air quality in buildings.

McLaren Construction has been appointed on behalf of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust to deliver site-wide infrastructure works to the 482-bedded hospital Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich.

Gerflor has supplied over 7000 m2 of its ‘high-quality flooring’, and a selection of Gradus handrails and corner guards. for a complete re-development and refurbishment of the site and building at Yorkshire’s Whitby Community Hospital, undertaken under a ProCure 22 project.

The NHS could ‘make space for at least 10,000 much-needed beds’ in the UK by moving more patient records off site, claims information management specialist, Restore Records Management -- which counts many NHS Trusts amongst its clients.

‘Smart energy solutions’ manufacturer, Powerstar, has appointed Solon Mardapittas (pictured) as its new CEO ‘to drive forward innovation in energy resilience solutions’.

Assa Abloy Opening Solutions UKI has hosted Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, for a behind-the-scenes tour of its manufacturing facilities.

The new NHS Net Zero Building Standard, published on 22 February 2023, provides technical guidance ‘to support the development of sustainable, resilient, and energy-efficient buildings that meet the needs of patients now and in the future’, says NHS England.

VCS, reportedly the UK’s leading manufacturer of emergency services vehicles, says it will invest more than £5 million in a new manufacturing facility for ambulances, police, and specialist vehicle conversions in Bradford this April.

The Planning Committee at Camden Council has resolved to grant planning permission for BDP’s proposed new entrance building for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

A collective failure to address diversity means the heating and hot water industry is missing out on crucial skills and putting its whole future at risk, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) maintains.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is one step closer to being able to deliver a new Women and Children’s Hospital for Cornwall after appointing BAM as its Principal Supply Chain Partner, the construction company has announced.

In partnership with electrical contractor W Portsmouth & Co, Ascom has been awarded the contract to supply and install healthcare communication technology to the BEACH (Births, Emergency Care and Critical Care, and Child Health) Building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Following its successful delivery of the Urgent Treatment Centre in 2022 for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Integrated Health Projects (the alliance between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine) has won a further design and build contract for the new emergency department at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital, and reconfiguration of its Children’s Emergency Unit.

Tilbury Douglas has started construction of the new Urgent and Emergency Care facility at Arrowe Park Hospital, on behalf of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Modern Methods of Construction specialist, MTX, has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Offsite Construction Solutions Framework, which ‘broadens the pre-manufactured building solution provision currently available to public sector buyers through CCS agreements’.

Nicolas Shiaelis and Dr Nicole Robb, Oxford University scientists, and co-founders of health tech company, Pictura Bio, have developed what they describe as ‘a world-first diagnostic test, powered by Artificial Intelligence’, that can identify known respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 within five minutes from a single nasal or throat swab.

Sodexo’s team at Nuffield Health Leicester Hospital has raised £6,000 for a life-saving mission organised by Leicester charity, Healing Little Hearts, to fund a team of medical professionals to travel to the An-Najah University Hospital in Nablus in Palestine to perform free heart surgery on five seriously ill children.

The UK should look to its engineering community for solutions to many of the serious social and economic challenges it is facing, according to the President of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA).

Medescon, which has helped hospitals with their bed storage issues since 2015, was awarded the ‘Best Furniture & Fixtures Product 2022’ award at December’s Building Better Healthcare Awards 2022.