RECENT NEWS

The Newcastle University School of Dental Sciences has chosen Brandon Medical’s HD-LED examination lighting for its Clinical Simulation Unit (CSU). A key requirement was for low-level, rather than ceiling-mounted, lighting, to enable the viewing of wall-mounted training screens.

Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health (DH), Dr Dan Poulter (pictured), last month wrote to the chief executives, finance directors, and estates and facilities directors, at all English NHS Trusts, advising them of a new £290 million fund that the Government has made available to help public sector organisations sell surplus land.

Eastwood Park’s water hygiene course portfolio has been refreshed to deliver what the training establishment says is ‘a more clearly defined and concise learning opportunity, equipping healthcare estates teams with practical water hygiene skills in a shorter timeframe’.

BSRIA has launched a new guide (BB 44/2013, ISBN 9780860227182 ) to ‘seasonal commissioning’.

Mace has handed over the first phase of a proposed 10 at London’s Chelsea & Westminster Hospital to the Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trust.

The Kent Institute of Medicine & Surgery (KIMS), an £85 m new hospital which the developers say will ‘transform acute and specialist health provision in the county’, had its ‘topping out’ on 11 February.

An engaging new wall within the children’s emergency department at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, has brightened up a long corridor previously painted white that families and children had found ‘daunting’.

The National Association of Care Catering (NACC) and the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) are promoting the introduction of ‘Nutrition Advocates’ to help raise awareness of the importance of nutrition in all UK social and health care settings.

Cossham Memorial Hospital in Kingswood, Bristol, has re-opened to patients following an extensive £19 m refurbishment by NHS South Gloucestershire.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, which has worked with the company since 2006, has extended by two years its relationship with international ‘total facilities management provider’, OCS.

Specialist in the integration of operating theatre equipment, Maquet, and Aesculap, which manufactures products ranging from surgical instruments and endoscopic systems to suture material, implants, and sterile containers, have announced a ‘sales partnership’.

Static Systems Group’s latest nurse call ‘app’ harnesses recent advances in VoIP technology to enhance patient-tostaff communication and improve staff efficiency in healthcare establishments.

Electrical safety specialist, Bender UK, is celebrating achieving what is says is the flagship standard for occupational health and safety best practice at its headquarters in Ulverston in Cumbria, which houses product testing facilities, and delivers sales, service, project management, and technical support.

Changes to the Dogs Act 1871 lobbied for by NHS Protect will give greater legal protection to healthcare staff facing dangerous dogs on private property.

Eastwood Park has ‘refreshed’ its water hygiene course portfolio to deliver ‘a more clearly defined and concise learning opportunity’, to equip healthcare estates teams with practical workplace skills in a shorter timeframe.

IHEEM President, Greg Markham, who promised, on taking up the role last year, to visit every UK Institute Branch during his two-year tenure, was special guest at the recent IHEEM London Branch 2013 AGM and accompanying evening get-together at the King Henry VIII Hotel, Bayswater.

IHEEM has issued a ‘Call for Papers’ for the conference at this year’s Healthcare Estates event, which takes place from 8-9 October at Manchester Central. The Institute says it would welcome submissions from healthcare estates professionals ‘in all disciplines’.

Following last month’s announcement that the Institute’s annual conference at Healthcare Estates will be organised by Step Exhibitions, the organisers are busy establishing a number of new initiatives for the year’s top event for healthcare estates and facilities professionals.

Wardray Premise says it can offer ‘a fantastic range of images’ in its Relax & View image collection via backlit wall and ceiling units lit by energy-efficient, low maintenance, flicker-free LEDs.

Wandsworth Group, reportedly the UK’s oldest independent manufacturer of wiring accessories and call systems, has moved to new, 40,000 ft2 customspecified headquarters in its ‘home town’ of Woking.