Just prior to the Biomedical Association of Malaysia’s (BEAM) 2013 Hospital Engineering Conference and Exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia in September this year, the IFHE held meetings of both its Executive Committee and Council.
The meetings saw a wide range of international estates and facilities-related topics discussed, as Andy Wavell, IHEEM’s IFHE representative, and an ex-officio member of the IFHE Executive Committee, reports.
I attended the IFHE’s Executive Committee Meeting in Kuala Lumpur on 9 September in my capacity as commissioning editor of the yearly publication, IFHE Digest. The new President and General Secretary began by explaining that they intended to make both the ExCo and Council meetings ‘more interactive’, by reducing the time spent on formal business, and providing time for the introduction of papers on specific subjects of interest to all member countries. The IFHE relies on membership fees, and concern was expressed at the number of countries that had not yet paid their fees this year. Of particular concern was ASHE of the USA, a large organisation, with over 4,000 members. Despite attempts by some members to contact them, there had been no response. A number of committee members agreed to attempt to ascertain reasons for nonpayment. However, on a positive note, Vice-President, Liliana Font, tabled an application to join the IFHE from Costa Rica, which was warmly welcomed, and also discussed continuing work being undertaken in South America with Columbia, Mexico, Chile, and Cuba. It was reported that Vistamatic from the UK had applied for, and been accepted into, Category D membership. Discussions are continuing with Sweden to persuade them to join. It was agreed that a 3 per cent rise in fees be recommended to the full Council meeting.
IHEEM’s secretarial and administrative services
IHEEM continues to provide secretarial and administrative services to IFHE, and attendees were highly complementary on the relationship that had developed. The General Secretary indicated that IHEEM staff are undertaking more work for IFHE, including providing papers for the Council on the use of social media, and creating a ‘Five-year plan’. Financially, IFHE is on a sound footing, and it was pleasing to note that funds had been placed in a deposit account, attracting a reasonable return. However it was agreed that the fee rise be recommended to the full Council meeting, the first such increase for a number of years. Discussion also took place on the latest edition of the IFHE Digest (see also page 20). Pleased with the edition, and positive in their support for the electronic version, members confirmed that it was being read, despite my report (page 20) on the apparent lack of uptake. Liliana Font indicated that South American members were particularly keen to receive it. Similarly, members valued the international editions of HEJ, although I stressed the importance of international articles being provided, and members undertook to help both with this, and with providing international news for the IFHE section in the IHEEM magazine.
Argentinian event on track
Reports were presented on the Norwegian Congress and the next one in Argentina, (planned for October 2014 in Buenos Aires – see HEJ, August 2013). Liliana Font confirmed that the event’s organisation was proceeding to plan, and that invitations for papers would be circulated during October this year. Additionally, the Netherlands indicated that their organisation of the 2016 Congress was on schedule. The General Secretary confirmed that invitations to host the 2018 Congress would be circulated in October (last month), with responses required by June 2014. Early indications suggested that the UK, Italy, and Australia, would make bids. It was also confirmed that the 2015 Council meeting would be held in Finland, in conjunction with the next IFHE Europe Conference.
First year as President
At the Council meeting on the following day, the IFHE’s President, Ole Rist, reported on his first year in the role. He began by thanking the hosts of the ExCo and Council meetings, BEAM, both for their invitation to visit Malaysia, and for the ‘excellent arrangements’ they had made for the meetings and their forthcoming conference and exhibition. Ole Rist said: “My work as President has proven very interesting so far, and I feel we have a very good team on the Executive Committee, with representatives from each part of the world, a highly able General Secretary in Gunnar Bækken, and the benefit of extensive help from his predecessor in the role, Bernard Shapiro. The administrative secretariat in Portsmouth in England has also given us tremendous support. “Gunnar Baekken and I had two meetings with the Secretariat last autumn, and in the spring of this year, at IHEEM’s Portsmouth headquarters, and we now have an updated agreement with the Secretariat, signed here in Kuala Lumpur.
Invitations to Canada
“Gunnar Bækken was invited by the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) to give a presentation about modern hospitals (St. Olav’s Hospital, Trondheim), and I was a invited to attend the Society’s annual meeting in Montreal in September – an excellent conference, with some fine speakers. I also much enjoyed the IFHE-EU meeting in Bern in February, again with a really well-organised conference, and a very large exhibition. As you can read elsewhere in this article, we now have a great rapport with the WHO as one of its main NGOs, with our liaison officer, Paul Merlevede, having attended meetings in Geneva and had numerous discussions with the DTO, Dr Adria Berumen Velazquez. It has so far been a fruitful collaboration. “The IFHE Digest is beautifully taken care of by Andy Wavell, and I am pleased to see so many good articles in it, and indeed in the international issue of the Health Estate Journal. “I hope you that you will have noticed changes to the layout in of our newsletters; thanks are due to Gunnar Baekken. “The IFHE website is also now being regularly updated, and the ‘webmaster’, Jonas Ellingsen, and Gunnar Bækken, have put in a great deal of work on it.
Focusing on the environment
“This year we have striven to focus on the environment, because I feel we are currently not acting in, or behaving in, a sustainable way. Although the global focus on growth is understandable, we are exploiting the earth and its resources excessively. Current economic systems are not ecological, and as estates and facilities professionals, we have a considerable responsibility, and must face the challenges by taking a creative approach.” Ole Rist said the IFHE also needed to be ‘open to ideas’ to increase its income, in order to have ‘more economic space’ to fulfil its goals. He added: “In cooperation with IHEEM, we intend to undertake a survey among our member organisations to determine which direction IFHE should take. The Executive Committee will also look to develop plans for the future, which will enable us to work with better foresight.” The Council Meeting also saw an indepth presentation by Paul Merlevede, a member of the Belgian IFHE country association VDTV, and the IFHE liaison representative with the World Health Organization (WHO), in which he detailed ongoing collaboration between the two organisations.
Key WHO contact
He explained that the contact person in the WHO is Dr Adriana Berumen Velazquez, Designated Technical Officer (DTO) for the following international organisations: the UIA – Union Internationale des Architectes; the IHFFIH: International Hospital Federation - Federation Internationale des Hôpitaux; the IFMBE: International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the IFHE. Paul Merlevede reported back on some of the key points to arise at a number of World Health Organization and World Health Assembly meetings he had attended over the preceding 18 months, where participants had included all the NGOs above. Among the key points he said had arisen were:
• Dr Velazquez is keen to create a publication on healthcare topics worldwide, examining subjects including hospital planning, hospital design, and technological infrastructure. In addition, this might also cover topics including consumable water, safe operating theatres and delivery rooms, hospital structures, energy concepts, general patient safety, and engineering facilities.
• The launch of a three-year collaboration plan; each NGO was asked to complete a form outlining its standpoint on this ‘short-term vision of collaboration’.
• The establishment of funding programmes for non-commercial NGOs, to cover, for example, voluntary work, travel, accommodation, and other expenses. r The need to improve the ‘transparency’ of the WHO website for NGOs, and, for example, to incorporate an NGO ‘button’ on the home page. r Ongoing collaboration between the IFHE and the WHO on updating of key technical estates and facilities and infrastructure-related publications, and reviewing of important documents, but with the proviso that the IFHE name always appears in the publication, book, or booklet, concerned.
• Further opportunities for the IFHE to ‘help achieve the solutions that the WHO and the member states are seeking for different medical problems (from vaccination to hospital-related issues)’, with IFHE members and member organisations offering their time, knowledge, and expertise (for instance to help with reviewing of WHO articles, updating of publications, some special projects, and with ideas on infrastructure ‘to help achieve better efficiency, improved hygiene, and technical management’). r Joint updating of the (‘14-year-old’) publication, ‘Guidelines for Development and Operation’ for district hospitals and peripheral health facilities, with, for example, new content included on sustainability, hospitals producing their own electricity and medical gases, water purification, and waste management.
• The WHO is keen, with the help of the IFHE, UIA, IHF, and IFBME, to create ‘guidelines’ for infrastructure, equipment, hygiene, …all related to healthcare, to the particular benefit of ‘low resource countries’. It was suggested that the existing publication on this topic, described as ‘wellstructured’, be used as the basis, with the project led by the WHO.
