RECENT NEWS

England’s health and care system is ‘gridlocked and unable to operate effectively’, according to the Care Quality Commission’s latest annual assessment, based on CQC inspection activity, information received from the public, and those who deliver care, ‘alongside other evidence’.

The team behind The Apollo Protocol white paper, which calls for a common language across digital twins, are to reveal details of how they will begin to set up The Apollo Forum at a live streamed launch event on 25 October.

A new £16 million Elective Surgical Hub at Hereford County Hospital has moved another step closer, with the design now submitted for planning approval.

Interfurn Medical Systems chose early October’s Healthcare Estates 2022 conference and exhibition to introduce its new name and brand, Medexs UK, to the healthcare estates and facilities management sector visitors attending the flagship annual IHEEM event.

The Government has announced that over £800 million of funding, to be allocated by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will go to support specialist research facilities bringing together scientists to create an environment where experimental medicine and patient safety research can thrive.

Early October’s Healthcare Estates 2022 exhibition saw Bender UK highlight its recently introduced COMTRAXX CP9 24” glass theatre control panel, ‘a sleek and sophisticated method of controlling the entire operating theatre from a central location’.

A new medical gas alarm panel incorporating a ‘Call hospital engineer’ feature to summon help from healthcare engineering personnel should, for instance, gas pressure become concerningly low in any part of a hospital, was unveiled by Shire Controls at this year’s Healthcare Estates exhibition.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Commercial Procurement Services has awarded public sector specialist, Kingsfield IT, to its new National Framework Agreement, ‘to provide a sustainable and cost-effective method for extending the lifecycle of electronic devices to workers across the UK’.

BAM has completed what it says is the first rooftop helipad in the country with direct access to emergency services.

Monkwearmouth Development (MDL) – a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures (SRMCV) and Argon Property Development Solutions (APDS) – has been awarded the task of delivering a new entrance and ‘state-of-the-art’ office building at Monkwearmouth Hospital in Sunderland.

MWD Healthcare has been appointed to build a new purpose-built Urgent and Emergency Care Centre at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, in its first NHS ProCure23 win.

Five school teams who reached the final of a national competition designed to get more young people into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers have been offered the chance to have their winning designs turned into real tools to help children in hospital.

A new 30-bed ward is being designed and built at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert by modular construction specialist, Portakabin.

University Hospital Crosshouse in Kilmarnock in south-west Scotland has installed two new AI-assisted CT scanners into its Medical Imaging Department 'to future-proof diagnostic imaging services for local and regional patients'.

Microban International has launched LapisShield, a novel, non-heavy-metal technology designed to ‘seamlessly integrate antimicrobial functionality into any water-based coating formulation’.

The £400 million nation-wide ‘dormitory elimination’ initiative is making progress in Worcestershire, as the programme strives to improve the quality of mental health wards in hospitals.

BAM’s UK & Ireland businesses have set an ambitious carbon target to become Net Zero in their direct operations by 2026, and are ruling out counting electricity from green energy tariffs towards their Net Zero emissions.

As the NHS works towards being carbon-neutral by 2045, NTH Solutions, an NHS subsidiary of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, has piloted an ‘intelligent thermostat’ – Coolnomix – that attaches to air-conditioning units to help improve their efficiency.

Modular building specialist, Portakabin, has completed two specialist theatres to boost capacity at East Grinstead’s Queen Victoria Hospital, complete with a central plant room, following consultation with the Trust’s team.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has unveiled the shortlists for its national apprenticeship and outstanding achievement awards, with the winners to be announced as part of the Association’s relaunched and revamped National Awards on 20 October in London.