FEATURE ARTICLES

Simon Hunt, strategic account director at Sypro, explores what the new NHS funding means for healthcare construction management at a time where improvements to both existing and new infrastructure have never been greater.

Abdel Amneina, Business Development manager at Silentia UK, discusses the benefits of modular privacy screens compared with traditional and antimicrobial curtains in terms of infection control, sustainability, cost-efficiency, and patient experience. Drawing on clinical research, international case studies, and practical implementation, he highlights the growing relevance of privacy screens for NHS and HSE healthcare estates.

The government’s plan for the NHS is a huge document. Jane Stephenson, chief executive officer at digital engagement and patient experience solutions provider Spark TSL, argues the key to unlocking its digital ambitions is to consider what it has to say about the shift from CDs to streaming. She argues the challenge facing Trusts and health boards is to make a similar shift from physical to digital delivery, while working with the right partners to make the most the opportunities this will open up – lowering costs, and improving both staff and patient satisfaction.

With all NHS organisations recently publishing refreshed green plans, Kevin Gilhooly, Interim Healthcare Solutions lead at MRI Software, explores how adopting a data-driven approach to energy management is helping Trusts reduce emissions, meet sustainability targets and improve clinical outcomes. Drawing on real-world NHS experience, he explains why decarbonisation isn’t just a technical challenge, but an information challenge, and how technology can help healthcare estates overcome it.

Director and National Healthcare lead at Pulse Consult, Tom Howells, discusses how the NHS must shift from reactive fixes to long-term, strategic investment to create more resilient healthcare estates, and ultimately improve patient care.

Mathew Hopwood, Sales director at Mansfield Pollard, explores the evolving role of HTM 03-01 in healthcare ventilation. He argues for a more structured approach to compliance, acknowledges industry resistance, and calls for closer collaboration between manufacturers and industry bodies like IHEEM to ensure safer, more consistent air management across healthcare estates.

Poorly designed healthcare environments can fuel infection and compromise patient safety. Richard Thomas, Managing director at Hygenius, examines how smarter furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) choices, from seamless surfaces to robust storage, can cut infection risk and improve patient outcomes.

The dangers of smoke inhalation during a fire cannot be overstated, says Tom Merton, Technical manager at fire protection solutions provider Armacell. Around 95 per cent of fire-related fatalities result from toxic smoke rather than burns, which means it is imperative for specifiers to take proactive measures to prepare for potential fire emergencies. Here, he investigates how the development of new insulation materials is helping to create a safer, more energy efficient healthcare environment.

Operating theatres are high-risk spaces and are therefore tightly controlled, and demand the highest standards of sterility. Yet one vital element of safety is too often underestimated – the air itself. Sanathoi Bachaspatimayum, Marketing & PR assistant at Smart Air UK, explores why filtration must sit alongside ventilation as a core safeguard for patients and staff.

Martin Heaward, UK head of Sales of Projects and Specifications at Gewiss, explains the consequences of relying on a product-first approach for a healthcare facility’s electrical infrastructure. He outlines the importance for those responsible for healthcare estates of working alongside electrical partners who can help them see the bigger picture, and create high-performing, effective and resilient solutions which meet their current and future needs.

Ross Giles, Business leader for Trane UK, considers some of the innovations in heating and cooling that offer hospitals a wide array of mechanisms to decarbonise their buildings while simultaneously reducing operating costs.

Smoke control systems play a vital role in ensuring the safety of occupants in the event of a fire, limiting smoke ingress in evacuation routes to provide time for staff and potentially vulnerable patients to be safely evacuated where necessary, allowing firefighters access to the source of the fire and potentially helping to limit the extent and cost of damage to estates. A proactive schedule of inspection and maintenance is essential to ensure these systems are functioning correctly and represents a key legal requirement for estates managers, says Conor Logan, Technical director at Colt International.

Gordon Stirling, Sector director of Health at Tilbury Douglas, explains how construction can assist the NHS with its focus on ‘preventing sickness rather than focusing on the cure’.

Mica Moore, a Business Support manager at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, who last year spent four weeks working in hospitals in Greece as part of a European exchange programme that offers healthcare professionals the chance to share learnings and experiences, outlines some of the key benefits. Most recently, she explains, two overseas healthcare professionals – from Poland and Spain, were hosted under the programme by Vital Services, a wholly owned Trust subsidiary for which she works.

In this whitepaper, WB Power Services Business consultant, Geoff Halliday, considers the priorities for regular maintenance testing of generating sets and their associated exhaust aftertreatment equipment.

NHS capital, estates and facilities teams are juggling ageing infrastructure, tightening budgets, and rising regulatory expectations. Here, Dr Carl-Magnus von Behr, co-founder and director of CompliMind (formerly Innex.AI), brings together two practitioner perspectives on the practical role of AI in everyday estates work. Paul Luxton, head of Acute Estates and Infrastructure at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, shows how AI can bring clarity and consistency to policy reviews. Paul Boocock, director of Estates and Facilities at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, reflects on how the same tools can support efficiency, governance, and workforce development at scale.

Addressing the sizeable NHS maintenance backlog is driving the need for service partnerships that provide insight to support uptime and map out a path to modernisation and Net Zero, says Kas Mohammed, VP of Services for the UK and Ireland at Schneider Electric.

Clarke Haydon, Managing director at Raybloc, a specialist manufacturer and installer of X-ray protection products, explains how – from small beginnings – the past quarter of a century has seen the company evolve and develop its range, highlights some of its recent successes, and focuses on the features that make its products and technology stand out – with contributions from some of the business’s key personnel.

Matt Etherington, Public Sector Workplace specialist at Matrix Booking, explores how data-driven insights can help organisations balance occupancy levels and adapt to changing work patterns.

Liam Nevins TIFireE, Product Technical manager – Fire Protection at Trox UK, highlights the importance of healthcare estates and facilities teams making sure that all fire dampers across their estate are maintained in efficient working order, both to ensure the safety of all their buildings’ users, and to meet regulatory requirements. He also outlines some of the additional requirements imposed in this area by the Building Safety Act 2022.