RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES
Considering the best pipework route for safety
Dave Lancaster, Applications specialist (Building Services) from plumbing, heating, cooling, and infrastructure specialist, Uponor, discusses the risk of Legionella in hospital water systems, and the ways in which that risk can be addressed through design best practice and pipe specification.
Equipping and fitting out 21st-century facilities
Howorth Air Technology will still be best-known to many in healthcare as the company which, working with worldrenowned orthopaedic surgeon, Sir John Charnley, in the early 1960s, developed the world’s first ultraclean surgical enclosure. Today, sales of its Exflow UCV canopy system remain strong, but the company now offers an ever broader range of complementary, and increasingly ‘connected’, operating theatre and ITU products.
Hybrid theatre design is a considerable art
With the percutaneous devices used in interventional radiology departments becoming ever more complex, and more and more minimally invasive procedures being undertaken in conventional operating theatres, a new ‘breed’ of so-called ‘hybrid’ theatres has emerged, and is now a feature of many hospitals worldwide. A look at the optimal design of such theatres.
Wellbeing centre supports independent living
A look at a new Centre of Wellbeing designed by architects, 3DReid, for the Thistle Foundation, an Edinburghbased charitable organisation that supports disabled people to live independently, and those with long-term conditions to better manage their lives.
Why firestopping must not be an afterthought
Fire safety is a huge concern for hospitals, which rely on running smoothly to keep waiting times to a minimum and ensure that patients, staff, and visitors, are safe. However, as such facilities continue to evolve, they can face a growing number of new fire safety challenges, with advances in technology and demand for better services placing a heavy reliance on cables to keep equipment and their supporting infrastructure running safely. Paul Gretton, lead marketing manager – Cable Management, at Legrand UK & Ireland, explains why using effective and future-proof firestopping in healthcare environments is crucial.
Aligning technology and estates strategies
Effective use of technology can significantly impact the design and day-to-day running of NHS estates, with the power to make buildings more efficient, create income generation opportunities, and help ‘future-proof’ the estate long-term
Actions to boost recruitment and retention set out
Senior estates and facilities staff from the NHS Estates and Facilities Efficiency and Productivity Division at NHSI led a well-attended seminar on workforce planning in Birmingham in April. The event brought together senior healthcare estates directors from over 30 NHS Trusts, and representatives of IHEEM, HefmA, and IPEM, to discuss key succession and skills gap issues facing the sector.
Protecting staff in challenging and secure settings
The COBS personal security range of products is now available from Atus Systems, strengthening its range of both personal and staff security solutions.
‘Taking construction to the next level’ with technology
The head of Manufacturing and Innovation at offsite specialist, The McAvoy Group, looks at the latest techniques for digitising construction, and at ‘how the new technology is taking offsite construction to the next level’.
Maintaining hand hygiene without mains supply
Clean, hot water is vital to combating infections in hospitals, but when the water supply itself is at risk, what are the options? Teal Patents, which specialises in providing hot water handwashing facilities without mains water supply or drainage, explains how to maintain high hand hygiene standards when the water supply has been compromised.
Domestic water systems: how warm is your cold?
Steve Hunt, managing director of Steven A Hunt & Associates, discusses the need for hospitals and industry experts to stay up-to-date with technology to help tackle the issue of Legionella developing in ‘ill-equipped’ domestic water systems.
Future-proofing strategy key for nurse call specialist
Three years after moving into a considerably larger and more modern Bournemouth office and factory complex, wireless nurse call specialist, Courtney-Thorne, is enjoying the benefits, and is increasingly focusing on making its systems ‘future-proof’.
Sensor products used as part of ‘visionary’ project
How – as part of a major development project at the charitable Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth in London – a leading tap, washroom fitting, and sanitaryware manufacturer has worked closely with the hospital’s Estates Management team on the roll-out of sensor washbasin mixer and shower products, and a look at the resulting benefits.
Improving resilience at one of Leeds’ biggest hospitals
In mid-2010 the Estates Maintenance Team at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust embarked on a £30 million, five-year project to significantly enhance the resilience and block capacity of the electrical distribution infrastructure at St James’s University Hospital, one of the Yorkshire city’s two main acute healthcare facilities.
Design considerations for ventilation systems
In an article that first appeared in the IHEA’s Healthcare Facilities magazine, a look, by an Australian air filtration specialist, at some of the key considerations for the effective design of operating theatre ventilation systems.
Pride in the job from a skilled workforce
Having started life in 1973 as a panel bonding and worktop manufacturer, Dorset-headquartered Total Laminate Systems (TLS) has grown into one of the UK’s leading manufacturers, suppliers, and installers, of sanitary assemblies, IPS panels, and washroom systems to the healthcare, education, commercial, and leisure sectors.
Overcoming drainage issues with minimal disruption
Richard Leigh, Business Development director at commercial and domestic drains specialist, Lanes Group,says the sector needs to work hard to improve awareness among healthcare professionals - no matter what their role – of the potential dangers posed by drainage emergencies in healthcare facilities, and how to avoid them.
Online tools designed to enhance collaboration
Healthcare Facilities Consortium (HFC) non-executive director, Jane Riley, explains how the HFS has recently launched FM Knowledge Exchange (FMKx), a set of online tools designed to encourage collaboration and communication between healthcare organisations and estates professionals, as well as their product and service suppliers.
How to ensure compliance and competency
Keeping the water supply safe is an integral part of hospital hygiene and infection prevention. To minimise contamination risks, explains Julie Spinks, managing director of WRAS, healthcare estates teams need to be fully aware of their regulatory responsibilities, rigorously apply risk management, use compliant products, and employ approved contractors.
Contingency planning will pay dividends
A significant number of critical healthcare applications rely on precise temperature control – from theatres and wards to MRI scanners and even mortuaries. If disaster strikes and a temperature control system fails, being able to rely on a pre-arranged contingency plan for both chillers and boilers can be the difference between hours and weeks of downtime. Russ Baker, director UK – Hire, at ICS Cool Energy, explains.
Featured Supplier
Thermal disinfection with the Mixcal Careflo Plus
Author: Stephanie Allchurch – Product Development Manager, Altecnic
The complete removal of harmful bacteria, such as legionella, from potable water systems can present a challenge to plumbing engineers. Thermal disinfection is a commonly used practice as an effective way of killing...
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