RECENT NEWS
New PM’s ‘once in a generation chance' to transform buildings
The new government team led by Boris Johnson has ‘an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically shift policy on the built environment and deliver higher standards of safety, sustainability and social justice’, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) claims.- News
Petition highlights dangers of ‘surgical smoke’
A woman who has worked in operating theatres for over 30 years has launched a petition to protect thousands of healthcare workers exposed to what she says is ‘a toxic smoke plume’ produced during surgery, and is being backed by the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP), the UK’s leading membership organisation for perioperative practitioners.- News
Princess Alexandra Fracture Clinic approved
Medical Architecture has secured planning consent for a new Fracture Clinic at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, which will enable the hospital’s orthopaedic department to expand the range of services provided locally.- News
BESA ‘in the vanguard of zero carbon action’, new President says
John Norfolk has taken over as President of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) for 2019/20 from Tim Hopkinson of E Poppleton & Son, who served for two years.- News
Social care ‘severely underfunded’, maintains Economic Affairs Committee report
The Government should spend £8 billion immediately ‘to restore the quality of and access to adult social care in England to acceptable levels’, and then introduce free personal care, funded through general taxation, over a five-year period, says a House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee report, 'Social care funding: time to end a national scandal', published on 4 July.- News
Royal Devon and Exeter Trust’s £7m investment in new energy technology
The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) is reportedly set to reduce its annual energy costs by £800,000 a year, following a £7 million investment in sustainable energy measures. The project, delivered by Centrica Business Solutions, will see new energy technology installed at five sites across Exeter, helping the Trust cut its energy costs by 17 per cent. Design and construction, set for completion by late April 2020, includes the installation of a 1.5 MW CHP unit at Wonford Hospital, and roof-mounted solar panels at Wonford and Heavitree Hospitals and the Mardon Neuro-Rehabilitation Centre.- News
Ideal Standard opens £1 million Clerkenwell showroom
Ideal Standard International, the bathroom solutions manufacturer, has seen its new £1 million Clerkenwell showroom opened with ‘a day dedicated to insight and design inspiration’.- News
CIBSE updates fire safety engineering guidance
Following the second anniversary of Grenfell Tower fire in West London in which 72 people died and 70 were injured, The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has published a revised and updated version of its 'Guide E: Fire Safety Engineering'.- News
Specialist multi-vendor ultrasound service launched
Canon Medical Systems UK and specialist, independent ultrasound service provider, Imagex Medical, say a new multi-vendor service partnership they have launched in the UK will provide cost, operational, and administrative benefits to both NHS and independent hospitals by streamlining productivity in the way that maintenance and repairs are undertaken on frontline diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems.- News
NHS Trusts gain more control over their property
Minister of State for Health, Stephen Hammond, has announced that new guidance on NHS property ownership will allow NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts to apply for the transfer of ownership of properties on their estate. A recently published Department of Health & Social Care document, 'Guidance for NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts on requesting transfers of estate in the ownership of NHS property companies', explains that the change applies where property on a Trust’s estate belongs to NHS Property Services (NHSPS) and Community Health Partnerships (CHP).- News
Consultation launched on proposal to move Moorfields Eye Hospital
NHS Camden Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has launched a public consultation – open until 16 September – on what they dub ‘exciting proposals’ to move Moorfields Eye Hospital from its current City Road site in London to an advanced new-build eye care and research centre in St Pancras in central London. The consultation, led by NHS Camden Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on behalf of all the CCGs, together with NHS England Specialised Commissioning, invites the public to have their say on ‘Oriel’ – the proposal to build a new facility at St Pancras Hospital that would bring together ‘excellent eye care, ground-breaking research, and world-leading education in ophthalmology’ on one site. The proposal is the result of a partnership between Moorfields Eye Hospital, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and Moorfields Eye Charity, which would all be housed in the new facility. The Moorfields’ City Road site was built over a century ago.- News
Best practice guide on key copy protection published
The Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) has launched a Best Practice Guide entitled ‘How to obtain Key Copy Protection: security and protection advice regarding copying of keys’, which it says offers information on minimising the risk of a security breach by preventing the unauthorised copying of keys.- News
Wates Group set to expand ‘FM’ offering
The Wates Group is set to expand its facilities management offering with the launch of Wates Facilities Management (‘Wates FM’) – a new business with expanded nationwide capabilities. Formerly operating as Wates Smartspace FM, Wates FM will build on the company’s existing nationwide portfolio of ‘total facilities management services’ across environments including banking, retail, and healthcare, and will seek opportunities to provide FM support to both private and public sector customers.- News
Mace report calls for ‘construction revolution’
International consultancy and construction company, Mace, says its latest analysis suggests the NHS could be boosted 'by the equivalent of 13,500 new nurses' if there was a ‘construction revolution’ that could enhance productivity in the UK’s hospitals.- News
'Smart medicine dispenser’ wins Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation
A 31-year-old electrical engineer, Neo Hutiri, has won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation – the first South African to win the prestigious prize – for he and his team’s Pelebox smart locker system designed to dispense medicine to patients with chronic conditions.- News
Mobile handsets improve response and patient safety
Thousands of staff are giving safer, more efficient care to patients at 19 hospital sites in North East Scotland, says Ascom UK, thanks to the deployment of its mobile handsets and messaging software, which have enabled medical personnel to stop using ‘old-fashioned’ pagers for all but emergency communication.- News
MTX achieves BIM Level 2 certification
Construction and engineering company and modular building specialist, MTX Contracts, has achieved Tier 1 British Standards Institute (BSI) Building Information Modelling (BIM) Level 2 Business / Certification following a 12-month verification process.- News
RAE appoints new head of Engineering Policy
The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced the appointment of Dr Shabana Haque OBE as its head of Engineering Policy ‘to help enhance government’s access to expert engineering policy advice’.- News
Medical technology company secures Framework place
Vanguard Healthcare Solutions has been awarded a place on a national framework to provide clinical managed services. The medical technology company has won a place under the NHS SBS (NHS Shared Business Services) Clinical Managed Services Agreement. The Framework Agreement makes provision for a wide range of clinical managed services, managed maintenance services, and consultancy services, to support Managed Service Provision (Lot 1). The framework covers a period of four years from 1 January 2019-31 December 2023, with the provision to extend for a further year.- News
Furniture helps create ‘world-class’ acute hospital
Deanestor has manufactured and installed over 5,000 furniture items in a £1.4 million contract for the new Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.- News
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