FEATURE ARTICLES

Derek Middleton, regional director, and Steve Gunning, director, at multi-disciplinary planning, design and engineering consultancy Faber Maunsell, look back on a complex, yet rewarding, project to deliver Europe’s largest state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility, highlighting some of the challenges the project team faced in bringing the scheme in on time and budget.

The requirement for safety testing of clinical laboratory medical equipment is regarded as essential to ensure that apparatus does not pose a user or patient hazard. John Backes, sales and product manager, Rigel Medical, considers the implications of the new IEC standard for the in-service and post-repair testing of electromedical devices.

A recent study by researchers at The University of Sheffield suggested that, despite the avowed intention to cater for young people of all ages, the majority of hospital accommodation is overly geared to the needs and preferences of its youngest occupants, rather than those of older children and adolescents.

Tracy Cook, the NHS European Office’s European policy manager (pictured), examines the European Emissions Trading Scheme (the ETS) and its implications for the NHS, and focuses on some of the key concerns expressed by NHS estates and facilities managers during recent consultations as proposed revisions to the scheme are discussed at a national ministerial and European Parliament level.

Excellent teamworking and a spirit of co-operation have characterised the design, construction and, over the past year, operation of a new £25 million PFI-funded Surgical Centre at Kingston Hospital, Surrey, to be run under a 30-year concession by special purpose vehicle and Costain / John Laing consortium Prime Care Solutions (Kingston Ltd). Health Estate Journal reports.

Chris Birch, business development manager, Medical Services, at Romac Technical Services, examines the key steps that need to be followed to ensure successful removal, installation, or relocation of the wide range of equipment, machinery and associated items used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

A new report from the Department of Health’s (DH) Gateway Reviews and Estates and Facilities Division identifies the key lessons for health estates and facilities personnel dealing with ‘natural incidents’ based on the experiences of estates personnel, fire and rescue services, local authority emergency planning staff and electricity, gas and water suppliers in three English regions hit by severe flooding during the summer of 2007.

While the UK’s Climate Change Bill is debated in Parliament, the NHS has been putting in place its plans to lead the way in public sector carbon cutting, which aim for a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. Susan Pearson talks to Dr David Pencheon, director of the new NHS Sustainable Development Unit.

A new community hospital in Lymington with what the judges describe as a “human scale that feels approachable, accessible and part of the local community”, and a Brighton seafront children’s hospital with an imaginative external ship-shaped design, both PFI schemes, are among the shortlisted construction projects in the 2008 Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award competition. Health Estate Journal reports.

The progressive development of an electronic-biomedical engineering (EBME) department at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust is providing many outstanding benefits. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Keith Baker, a Higher Level Qualifications (HLQ) Engineering Council consultant at City & Guilds, explains how those wishing to join professional engineering institutes without “traditional” degree or other formal qualifications can benefit from an enhanced joint ECUK and City & Guilds examinations service that provides an alternative entry route. This service could prove invaluable to existing IHEEM members keen to encourage others to join.

Medicinq Osborne and off-site construction specialist Yorkon last month handed over the UK’s largest acute admissions unit, or AAU, to the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The milestone came only a year or so after the construction consortium signed the contract for a facility that it is hoped will radically improve the way patients in the area receive emergency care. Jonathan Baillie reports.

Mike Moran, business development manager, Industrial Construction, at Bostik, explains how a range of new sealants can increase protection in hospital bathrooms, shower rooms and kitchen facilities against healthcare-acquired infections.

Adrian Parkin, operations director at Howorth Air Technology, describes how, in May, Ireland’s Aut Even Hospital near Kilkenny became the country’s first healthcare facility to be fitted out exclusively with UCV (ultra-clean ventilated) operating theatres, guaranteeing that patients’ operations take place in the cleanest air possible.

Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) is piloting a remote teleconsultation system that combines video, audio and medical technology with IP telephony to create a “consulting room” environment in a medical setting, home, office or shopping mall. Two key goals are to enable patients many miles from their nearest doctor to receive remote consultations, and to reduce pressure in hospital emergency departments. Jonathan Baillie reports.

Power quality is a serious, and often costly, issue in healthcare, especially when equipment is prone to fail without warning. Powervar’s Rob Morris considers how sensitive medical equipment can be effectively protected against power surges, spikes, electrical noise and large value transients so as to maximise the chances of it keeping operating efficiently.

Heating, ventilating and air conditioning specialist Andrews Sykes’ expertise has seen comfortable ward temperatures maintained for patients and a good working environment ensured for clinical staff at part of an ageing, yet characterful 19th Century Bristol hospital where structural constraints made installing fixed air conditioning impractical. Health Estate Journal reports.

Speaking at “Rebuilding the NHS”, a conference recently staged by Health Service Journal, John Pope, in his capacity as Department of Health (DH) programme lead, New Models of Care, examined how innovative estates planning can “continue to facilitate the shift of more health services to primary and community care settings”. Health Estate Journal reports.

Wayne Rose, marketing manager at integrated plant room manufacturer Armstrong Integrated Systems, explains how increasing use of off-site manufacture, the latest 3D modelling technology, and advances in control technology, are revolutionising boiler room design and construction.

Chris Holme, principal engineer, Gateway Review and Estates and Facilities Division, Department of Health (DH), discusses what a new requirement for those running large publicly-owned buildings to display, publicly, information on their site’s energy consumption will mean for the NHS when it comes into force on 1 October.