Keeping patients safe and facilities running smoothly

Conference topics discussed at an IHEEM one-day conference and exhibition in Cardiff last month ranged from the challenges of minimising the growth and proliferation of Pseudomonas in hospital water systems, to a look at some of the key changes in the recently revised HTM 06-01 guidance document: Electrical services supply and distribution. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports on a particularly interesting presentation by Dr Mark Garvey, principal clinical scientist in Microbiology, and associate director of Infection Prevention and Control, at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, discussing ‘Engineering waterborne Pseudomonas aeruginosa out of a critical care unit’. He also gives a flavour of the day’s other presentations.

The IHEEM 2017 Cardiff Regional Conference and Exhibition held at Cardiff City Stadium on 7 September addressed some of the biggest challenges facing healthcare estates and healthcare engineering personnel today, particularly in safety-critical areas such as infection prevention and electrical safety. Alongside a thought-provoking conference, the event incorporated an exhibition in which suppliers highlighted a range of products and services targeted specifically at the sector. 

The conference began with a short introduction by Tracey Gauci RGN BSc, MSc, assistant director of Nursing, Infection Prevention and Control at the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) Health Board. Also currently coordinator of the Welsh Branch of the Infection Prevention Society, and Patron to the Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals, one of her key messages was the need for neither nursing and clinical teams nor healthcare engineers ‘to take eachother for granted’, with the key to effective infection and control being a close working relationship between clinical, infection control, and healthcare estates/healthcare engineering personnel.