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RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES

Fast-paced Portsmouth project finished in 28 weeks

Modular building provider, Wernick, has completed a new 72-bed building at Queen Alexandra Hospital for Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. Providing urgently needed treatment and recovery areas, the £8.2 m building took just 28 weeks to complete, from design to handover.

Energy-saving steps aim to cut emissions by 80 per cent

A major project to decarbonise North Tyneside General Hospital is well under way, with the aim of reducing its emissions by 80 per cent. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s ‘commitment to taking concrete, meaningful action’ to reduce its environmental impact will see the hospital’s steam system replaced

Digital signage improving patient and staff experience

Healthcare providers are using digital signage and IPTV systems to manage ongoing COVID challenges, and subsequently recognising how AV systems can improve the patient experience, says Colin Farquhar, senior vice-president, Sales, at VITEC, a specialist in end-to-end video streaming.

Lancashire ‘surge hub’ created in just three weeks

A three-week timescale to create, construct, and fully fit out a surge hub in a hospital car park is a pretty daunting prospect. Five senior team members involved in such a project at a Lancashire acute Trust explain how this was achieved at the Royal Preston Hospital.

Reviewing fire alarm protocols and reducing risk

The National Fire Safety lead at NHSE/I explains how NHS Trusts can review their fire alarm systems and implement effective protocols to ensure that risk reduction in this area meets statutory requirements.

Making sure ventilation is effective and fit for purpose

In March 2021 John Prendergast, MIHEEM, an Authorising Engineer (Decontamination), and Dr Jimmy Walker, Chair of the Central Sterilising Club, established, and have since led, a Working Group to review guidance for ventilation requirements in endoscope decontamination facilities.

Complying with the new BS standard on P. aeruginosa

IHEEM-registered AE (Water), Steve Mount, reviews the recently produced British Standard for risk assessment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other waterborne pathogens in healthcare premises, and the challenges facing organisations in complying with it.

COVER STORY: Starkstrom reports ‘considerable growth’ in demand

Starkstrom has its UK office and manufacturing facility in Syston, Leicester. The company is in its 51st year of offering integrated solutions for the design, supply, installation, and commissioning, of electrical safety solutions for Group 2 medical locations, and infrastructure and clinical products to NHS and private hospitals for operating theatres and ‘Recovery’, Critical Care, Emergency Departments, Endoscopy, and training facilities.

When specifications don’t solve the problem

As specifications are passed down lengthy chains, sometimes the intent can be lost. Adam Fox, director at vibration isolation specialist, Mason UK, offers three key principles for writing a good specification.

Financing smart buildings – value in the ‘new normal’

Jo Harris, Commercial Finance UK Sales director, Siemens Financial Services in the UK, discusses some of the benefits to both to occupiers and users of increasingly ‘smart’ healthcare buildings, and the role of ‘smart financing’ in their construction and operation.

The fire doorset’s vital role as a first line of defence

Poor specification, installation, and maintenance of fire doorsets can have devastating consequences in the event of a fire – but especially so in very highly trafficked and occupied facilities such as hospitals. Here, David Hindle, head of Door Closer Sales at Assa Abloy Opening Solutions UK & Ireland, outlines the key considerations for healthcare estates personnel when choosing fire doorsets.

Call for increased focus on primary care investment

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Healthcare Infrastructure recently discussed the need to invest in primary care, as well as acute hospital settings, for improved forward planning for greater NHS resilience, and for enhanced healthcare infrastructure in poorer, disadvantaged communities.

Pandemic lessons: gauging how NHS staff work now

Arcadis’ Sarah Miles and Smriti Singh discuss a recent project with an acute NHS Trust to discover how the pandemic has changed perceptions of hospital workspace, and ‘how we can start to implement change, both in physical space, and also in cultural views of hospital roles’.

‘Landmark’ CCU completed at Oxford’s John Radcliffe

A new 48-bedded Critical Care building at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, and built by Modern Methods of Construction specialist, MTX, for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been completed in just 15 months – from initial design to handover.

Green Plan progress and future opportunities in focus

NHS Trusts across England were required to submit a Green Plan by mid-January as part of the drive toward a Net Zero Carbon NHS. Beth Goodwin, an NHS specialist at Inenco – which has been helping a number deliver their Plans – discusses the approaches taken, and some as yet underexploited carbon reduction opportunities.

Combating Legionella by focusing on the right species

Jimmy Walker PhD, BSc, a microbiologist with over 30 years’ experience in water microbiology and decontamination, discusses the important aspects of Legionnaires’ disease for those with responsibility for hospital water systems, and what we need to understand about the presence of this waterborne pathogen in such systems to safeguard patients.

Smart hospital designed ‘through the patient’s eyes’

Canadian journalist Rebecca Melnyk describes the light, airy, and spacious design of what is reportedly Canada’s first ‘smart’ hospital – the new Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Vaughan, Ontario.

Biophilic design: designing for health

Biophilic design’s benefits for both acute and mental healthcare settings are well-recognised. South African interior designer, Antoinette Greeff, discusses the fundamentals of the ‘art’, and explains how the principles were deployed at a new assisted ward at a psychiatric facility.

Cleanroom monitoring system shows its benefits

NHS Orkney has recently extended its use of neQis independent monitoring solutions, adding continuous particle monitoring for the cleanroom of its central decontamination unit.

Encouraging the adoption of digital innovation

Gavin Thompson, former CEO of engineering consultancy, Buro Happold, explains that the business is ‘transforming how healthcare estates collaborate… by adoption of digital innovation’.

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Upcoming Events

The Fire Safety Event 2024

National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham
30th April - 2 May 2024

Wales regional conference, exhibition and awards dinner 2024

International Conference Centre (ICC) Newport
28th - 29th May 2024

NAHFO National Conference 2024

Crowne Plaza Newcastle Upon Tyne
3rd - 5th June 2024

Design in Mental Health 2024

Manchester Central
4th - 5th June 2024

InstallerSHOW 2024

National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham
25th - 27th June

Healthcare Estates 2024

Manchester Central
8th-9th October 2024

Access the latest issue of Health Estate Journal on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Health Estate Journal app from your device's App store

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