FEATURE ARTICLES

Geoff Dillow, author of Dental Compressed Air and Vacuum Systems – 20031 a supplement to the NHS Estates publication Health Technical Memorandum 2022 Medical Gas Pipeline Systems,2 examines issues surrounding the use of scavenging systems for nitrous oxide during relative analgesia (RA) procedures in dentistry. This article provides practical advice to help reduce unnecessary exposure of staff.

In healthcare, smart tags and packaging are saving lives, preventing illnesses, reducing errors, cutting crime, and sharply lowering costs. Update by Dr Peter Harrop FIEE, chairman, IDTechEX.

Ensuring a healthcare organisation comprehensively meets patients’ new expectations will be a responsibility shared by non-clinical and clinical staff, the recently-held ninth annual conference of The Health Facilities Management Association heard. Nicholas Marshall reports.

Fire alarm system maintenance regimes need not be complex. In this article, Tim Wilcox, fire systems inspector for Static Systems Group, provides a guide to the tasks, requirements and regulations associated with the maintenance of fire alarm systems.

Assistance is now available for cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs.

The Department of Health has set a mandatory target for the NHS to reduce its carbon emissions by 0.15 million tonnes by 2010. Not only does the NHS emit approximately 1 million tonnes of carbon each year, its annual energy bill runs to £400 million.

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature focuses on issues concerning prevention of outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease. The first part of the article is by Mike Arrowsmith BSc (Hons) CEng FIMechE FIHEEM, and the second section consists of a slightly edited version of an article by David Harper Eng Tech MASEE MIHospE MIWSoc that was published in the March 1984 edition of Hospital Engineering, the journal of The Institute of Hospital Engineers (now IHEEM).

Arne Nesje of SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, describes the planning and building of new facilities at St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway. This article is adapted from a paper presented at the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering held in May 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management must move forward determinedly if the latest opportunities are to be seized. Phil Nedin, IHEEM’s new president, answers questions posed by Health Estate Journal about the way ahead.

In October 2005 in northern Pakistan a devastating earthquake destroyed buildings and killed thousands, yet left Kunhar Christian Hospital remarkably still standing. Health Estate Journal reports on efforts to maintain healthcare delivery under extraordinary circumstances.

Ipswich Hospital’s traditional kitchen prepared hot meals for patients twice a day but the healthcare facility’s unusual layout often meant that meals arrived with patients some time after the food had been cooked. Ipswich Hospital wanted to improve its service to patients and called in support services company OCS.

In developing new primary care facilities, a specialised partnership approach is essential, the One Medical organisation finds.

A major step forward in the area of medical imaging has been taken by the largest NHS Trust in Wales.

Health Estate Journal reports on the work of Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council whose aim is to raise productivity by driving up standards and skills in the facilities management sector by ensuring employer input into qualifications and training.

Neville Mitchell, managing director of Thermal Detection, examines issues relating to accurate temperature measurement with medical autoclaves.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has led a concerted effort to reach agreement on the high-level ethical principles it believes all professional engineers and related bodies should subscribe to. It has also suggested how ethics should be incorporated within the curriculum of undergraduate engineering courses. Anthony Eades, the manager of Engineering Projects at the Academy, introduces these initiatives.

As methods of decontaminating equipment used for gastrointestinal endoscopy continue to be closely scrutinised, Health Estate Journal summarises the latest British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines.

The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) guidelines on decontamination of equipment for gastrointestinal endoscopy have been updated.

A document titled A risk-based methodology for establishing and managing backlog and published by The Stationery Office puts forward best practice advice, and, for this HEJ article, extracts of the contents have been adapted.

It is essential that the physical condition of the NHS estate is accurately assessed and maintained to ensure it is fit for purpose and safe for patients and staff.

‘Audit’ and ‘screen’ techniques are highly valuable in the good management of asbestos, says Alan Hambidge, director and principal consultant of controls-assurance.co.uk

The management of asbestos within an organisation responsible for a large and diverse property portfolio may seem daunting.

Patient choice is set to have a major impact on the future estates’ strategy of acute hospitals in the UK, says Chris Parsons, senior consultant with property consultancy EC Harris LLP.

The current NHS reforms will mean that patients will be offered the choice of which acute hospitals they attend for follow up treatment and/or procedures.

L W Michael Arrowsmith BSc(Hons) CEng FIMechE FIHEEM, Health Estate Journal technical editor, describes issues concerning Health Technical Memorandum 02 (HTM 02), the medical gas pipeline guidance developed to replace HTM 2022