RECENT NEWS

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.

Addleshaw Goddard has reinforced its leadership in the PFI and projects sector after advising the Department of Health on the development of Nottingham NHS Trust’s £46 million treatment centre – the largest centre of its type to be built under the Department’s new Independent Sector Treatment Centre programme.

Gordon Pidcock FIHEEM, Retired Member, asks where the design innovators are today, in a letter to the Health Estate Journal.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has taken action to improve the public’s understanding of civil engineering by publishing The Little Book of Civilisation.

Members of the Institute’s Southern Branch visited the Portsmouth offices of Pall Medical, an IHEEM company affiliate, where they viewed its product range and listened to an excellent presentation on the benefits of point-of-use/terminal filters.

IHEEM’s Healthcare Estates Conference and Exhibition (1-2 November) will be a must-attend event for professionals in estate planning, facilities management and healthcare engineering.

An alert document relating to mobile heated food trolleys has been issued by the DH Estates and Facilities Directorate. The trolleys are from various manufacturers/suppliers, and the problem concerns damage which may occur to the electrical power plug with consequential electric shock injury. There is risk of death by electrocution, it is stated.

Alan Mosedale IEng FIHEEM has been elected to the Board of the Engineering Council UK.

A range of fabrics for use in hospitals which incorporate the BioCote anti-microbial surface treatment protection is now available from Mosaic Furnishings. These fabrics include cotton cubicle and window curtains, duvet covers, counterpanes and general upholstery.

IHEEM’s key role to assist Foundation Trusts and other Trusts in the significantly changing NHS landscape was underlined at the Institute’s recently held Annual General Meeting in London by Peter Wearmouth, who was retiring as President, and Richard Nugent, his successor in this office.

The annual gala dinner of the Healthcare Estates Conference and Exhibition took place at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, on 6 November.

Paul Robbins, electro-medical services manager, technical support services, Papworth Hospital NHS Trust, was, at the Healthcare Estates Conference in Harrogate, presented with the Northcroft Silver Medal for his Health Estate Journal article "Managing risk in device engineering".

The new HTM 01 on disinfection and sterilisation is being published and is the first update of the guidance for over 10 years.

Designed for aspiring directors and senior managers, the Development Centre Programme supports the national Facilities Management Workforce Strategy.