RECENT NEWS

With high demand for services, and an ever-growing focus on the environmental impact and carbon reduction of new-build schemes, NHS Trusts are increasingly turning to Catfoss and the use of Modern Methods of Construction in the delivery of their estates strategies.

Inspiring and supporting the next generation of engineers ‘will help society solve the big technical and scientific challenges of today and tomorrow’, said Kevin Mitchell CEng, FCIBSE, the incoming President of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, in his Presidential Address on 5 May.

NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England (HEE) have launched an NHS ‘Estates and Facilities Apprenticeship Challenge’ to support the greater use of apprenticeships in estates and facilities.

Specialist healthcare infrastructure consultancy, Archus, has established a new Dublin office, to expand its provision of strategic and infrastructure advice to health and social care clients in the region.

A cross-party group of MPs and peers is seeking views on how the NHS estate and infrastructure can best meet patient needs.

Work has begun on a new pathology laboratory at St James’s Hospital in Leeds to serve patients in the city, West Yorkshire, and Harrogate.

With ambitious build plans for the UK’s New Hospital Programme set in motion, the latest report from polymer product specialist, REHAU, found that 98% of the M&E contractors and architects working in healthcare surveyed would be willing to pay extra for products with longer lifespans when constructing healthcare facilities.

National property service provider, Wates Smartspace, has completed its second fit-out project at Winchester’s Royal Hampshire County Hospital, providing substantial upgrades to the hospital’s Pathology Department.

Eric Wright Construction has started work on Nye Bevan House in Rochdale for Community Health Partnerships (CHP), in a project that will deliver a leading musculoskeletal (MSK) diagnostic treatment hub unit for the people of the Lancashire town.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, recently visited the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford in Kent to praise staff for their ‘faithful and tenacious service’, and bless the hospital’s new Intensive Care Unit, due to open later this month.

With buildings widely recognised as a major source of energy consumption – the global real estate market consumes 60% of the world’s electricity, and emits 28% of global carbon emissions – Arloid says its ‘innovative’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) ‘enables any building to cut energy bills amid the global fuel crisis’.

A new ‘Supplier Guide’ which will be updated regularly as the New Hospital Programme progresses, highlights what those managing the programme say ‘is important to us and, what will be required from our supply chain’ was published on 14 April.

The NHS App is helping to reduce travel to GP practices, with an average of 22,000 car journeys saved every month.

A new chemotherapy unit at Fareham Community Hospital in Hampshire has recently welcomed its first patients.

There are many reasons why Armitage Shanks is the market-leader in supplying washroom products for the healthcare sector, the company explains.

Eastwood Park Training has recently opened bookings for its popular summer school, relaunched as ‘Introduction to healthcare engineering, estates, and facilities’.

The energy market has certainly hit the news headlines in recent times, as the conflict in Ukraine has led to record market prices, and concerns about long-term continuity of supply.

Norwood, the specialist in design, manufacture, and installation, of demountable steel and glass partitions, has helped Medicom create a facility that is manufacturing 2.3 million masks a day as the UK continues to fight COVID-19.

Gareth Walsh, who has worked in the healthcare sector for 25 years, 18 of them with medical device specialist, Olympus, has been appointed as the new Commercial Director at Static Systems, the global provider of alarm and communication solutions for healthcare and secure establishments.

A hi-tech mobile health clinic is being used to improve screening, testing, and treatment, of around 10,000 vulnerable, homeless, and high-risk people in London every year, says University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has deployed it.