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Rehabilitation facility to set world standard
A new healthcare facility for the rehabilitation of patients with brain, spinal, and other neurological conditions, that architects Murray O’Laoire and Brian O’Connell Associates say will “raise the stakes” internationally in the treatment and care of such patients and, on its 2014 completion, be “among the world’s most accessible buildings”, is planned for Dun Laoghaire near Dublin.

Controlled humidity could hit flu hard
With regular flu outbreaks a significant concern and cost / resource drain for the NHS, Vapac Humidity Control, reportedly the UK’s only manufacturer of specialist humidifier equipment for hospital use,

Growing estates role in theatre arena
NHS Trust boards’ growing demands for major capital purchases to offer both short-term “added value”, and sound longer-term ROI, coupled with estates and facilities teams’ growing involvement in specifying, installing, and subsequently maintaining, the sophisticated equipment and control systems found in modern-day operating theatres, have meant a radical re-think in approach to winning new business for Trumpf Medical Systems.

Age-old technologies jostle for position
With the focus on combating hospital-acquired infection never greater, debate over the respective merits of using silver ion and copper-based anti-microbial surface treatments to “beat the bugs” will no doubt continue as new study evidence emerges for each.

Are you set to commit to carbon reduction?
This April’s introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) should, argues Dave Covell, a principal at international environmental consultancy Environ, lead to major improvements in energy efficiency in the healthcare arena, potentially enabling Trusts to significantly reduce future energy bills.

Smoothing the path to the theatre
How operating theatre design has changed, and the considerable differences in approach taken in the UK, mainland Europe, and North America in the past 5-10 years to enhancing the design of both the theatre itself, and the associated waiting, preparation and recovery facilities, were the subject of a fascinating presentation by Keith Millay,

Fumigation success for California facility
As Robert Hacker, at the time director of facilities management at the St John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California, explains, the hospital, one of the area’s largest, recently successfully utilised a new technology to eliminate mould, selecting a cost and time-saving fumigation process in place of the traditional “rip and tear” method.

An integrated approach to infrastructure
In an edited version of a paper presented at the IHEA (Institute of Hospital Engineering Australia) 60th National Conference 2009, Stewart Hayes, principal consultant at Jakeman Business Solutions, argues that, with “traditional” means of purchasing and maintaining critical hospital infrastructure systems “becoming less viable”,

Mapping a world for the disabled
Agreeing to spend £88,000 to sign her Trust up to a new online guide that will provide information on disabled access provision for some individual 300 healthcare sites throughout the county was “an extremely easy decision”, NHS Suffolk chief executive Carole Taylor-Brown told a London audience recently.

Nurse call systems never stand still
Static Systems Group, a specialist in the design, supply, installation and maintenance of bedhead services and advanced communication systems, looks back at how nurse call systems and bedhead services trunking systems have developed to meet evolving healthcare and hospital trends.

Using micro-climates takes a cool head
Simon Keel, product executive at air-conditioning equipment specialist Daikin UK, discusses climate control solutions for the hospital environment as a raft of environmental legislation, and the need to cut both costs and emissions, hit home.

Key guidance gets unique online portal
English Health Technical Memoranda and Health Building Notes will from now on be accessible in comprehensive online form following the decision by the national estates directorates in all four UK countries to migrate these key sources of technical information and guidance to a new website over the next six months.

Inspired by a game, built to last
Morgan Ashurst has completed construction of the Kentish Town Health Centre in London in a project that the construction company says “sets standards for the NHS by serving as a community hub for wellness, instead of illness”. Health Estate Journal reports on a building whose function is said to “extend far beyond simply treating sick people”.

‘Commitment’ secures rooftop SSD contract
John Davies, operations manager of multi-disciplinary mechanical and electrical and construction contractor cfes, describes a “turnkey” project that the company is undertaking for the Yeovil District Hospital (YDH) NHS Foundation Trust, involving both the design and construction of a new sterile services department, and substantial input into the facility’s subsequent operation and management.

Putting engineering on the world stage
Late last year the Engineering Council UK, which holds the national registers of Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers, Engineering Technicians, and Information and Communication Technology Technicians, dropped the “UK” from its name to reflect its growing international focus.

Endeavour and expertise rewarded
The considerable contributions made by estates and facilities personnel to maintaining the essential services that keep UK healthcare facilities running, and to providing a high quality care and treatment environment, alongside their efforts in promoting the sector more widely and helping fellow professionals advance their career, were recognised at the IHEEM Annual Dinner at the recent Healthcare Estates event.

‘Never waste a good crisis’, delegates told
An overview of how the new Care Quality Commission will monitor standards from one of the new regulatory body’s regional directors, who echoed the words of a US stateswoman in exhorting delegates to “never waste a good crisis”, together with contrasting perspectives on some of the most pressing issues facing estates and facilities personnel in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, formed the keynote speeches at 2009’s Healthcare Estates conference. Jonathan Baillie reports.

Ambition and vision at student awards
Eighty entries from students from schools of architecture and interior design all over the world were whittled down to just eight in the 2009 Architects for Health (AfH) Student Health Awards.

African adventure cues new direction for Keith
A specialist in X-ray equipment, who spent over 30 years working for X-ray system manufacturers, IHEEM North Western branch member Keith Feay subsequently established his own consultancy.

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