‘Plug and play’ benefits of power track busbar systems

Paul Allen from CMD, the specialist in underfloor power distribution systems, discusses the use of busbar powertrack in a Nightingale field hospital, and highlights the lessons that can be learned about the benefits of this ‘plug and play’ approach to power distribution networks for both future hospital development and emergency response.

It has been a year and half of challenges and achievements for healthcare estates and facilities professionals. Faced with capacity and infection control issues, and the need to respond quickly to an evolving situation, there has been both a steep learning curve, and a need for creative thinking and agile responses. With the vaccination programme now well advanced, and the ‘R’ number finally reducing, there is hope that we may finally be on a path to tackle the COVID-19 virus and take pressure off the NHS. That includes taking pressure off healthcare estates; hospitals may have always been designed with flexibility built in, but that principle has been tested like never before over the past year. As we begin to look forward to transitioning to ‘normal’, there will be opportunities to consider what has been learned from the pandemic in terms of hospital specification and design, for existing hospital assets, new-build projects, and the redeployment of nonhospital assets as field hospitals.

Considering flexible approaches