With the impact of human activity on the global climate very much in the news, September’s IHEEM 2019 Regional Conference & Exhibition in Cardiff saw speakers discuss climate change’s wide-ranging impact on the operation and use of healthcare facilities – from patient comfort, internal temperatures, and staff productivity, to plant operation and building condition, as well as the healthcare estate’s contribution to carbon footprint and global warming.
In a morning presentation, Mike Ralph, FIHEEM, Principal engineer at NHSI/NHSE, and chair of the IHEEM Medical Gases Technical Platform, examined the contribution of medical gases and volatile anaesthetic agents to global warming, and discussed what can be done to mitigate it.
The one-day conference, entitled ‘Heatwave’ in the wake of some of the more extreme summer temperatures seen in the UK in recent years, began with a welcome from Graham Stanton, who is chair of the IHEEM AE (D) Registration Board. Recently retired, he worked in the Welsh NHS for 43 years, 35 of them spent in the sterilisation and decontamination field. During that time, he represented the Welsh Health Service in the formation of national guidance – both for Wales and the Department of Health in England, led audits for the Welsh Government, and was instrumental in setting up and chairing active decontamination groups in both Sterile Services and Endoscopy. He was an Authorised Person (Sterilisers) from 1995 until July 2008, when he became an AE (D). Graham Stanton has been a member of the Institute’s Wales Branch since 1975, and has served the Branch on IHEEM’s Council. He is also IHEEM’s representative on the Decontamination Professional Expert Communication Forum
Setting the scene
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