With the recent focus on, and extensive media coverage of, the safety of hospital water systems (HEJ – May 2012, and pages 23-27 of this issue), two IHEEM ‘masterclass seminars’ being held in Leeds and London next month, entitled ‘The Invisible Threat’, will offer expert guidance and advice on maintaining a safe, high quality water supply and, for example, minimising the risk of waterborne infection to patients and staff.

Callum MacInnes BSc (Hons), AIFireE, an engineer at WSP UK – part of a global design engineering and management consultancy group specialising in property, transport and infrastructure, industry and environment projects – and his colleague, senior engineer, Richard Rankin CEng MEng (Hons) MIFireE, discuss the importance of passive fire protection in healthcare premises.

The 15th Annual Conference and Exhibition to be hosted by the Health Estates and Facilities Management Association (HefmA), this year themed ‘Strong Foundations or Shifting Sands?’, takes places later this month (24-25 May) in Telforda

Ingenieur Hospital Schweiz, the Swiss hospital engineering organisation, and organiser of the event, is calling for papers by 1 May this year for the IFHE (International Federation of Hospital Engineering) Europe’s 5th European Conference in Bern, which will take place in the Swiss city in 2013.

Dr Sanaz Litkouhi, assistant professor and director of the Architecture and Urban Planning Department at the Payame Noor University, in Tehran, the author of a number of previous articles for HEJ on optimal design of healthcare facilities for children and adolescents (HEJ – November 2007, March 2008, and May 2010), describes how service users’ views were carefully gauged and taken into consideration in a project involving renovation of part of the Shahid Bahrami Children’s Hospital in Tehran.

In an article in the May 2011 issue of Health Estate Journal, Debbie Hobbs, principal at environmental consultancy, Environ, explained the steps that organisations obligated under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme needed to take over the following 3-4 years, and set out a checklist of actions to help.

Following an NHS warning that plans to rebuild or refurbish London hospitals are under threat due to debt, David Cottrell, technical director at Corus Building Systems, reviews the implications this may have for the industry, and how modern roofing systems can help to alleviate the problem.

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature describes further thoughts from over 50 years ago on the importance of anti-infection precautions. Published below is a slightly edited version of part two of a paper by A.F. Dence MA (Oxon) which was published in the April 1950 edition of The Hospital Engineer (the official journal of the Institution of Hospital Engineers, now IHEEM). The first part of the paper, which appeared in the January 1950 edition of The Hospital Engineer, was republished, with minor alterations, in the January 2007 edition of Health Estate Journal.

aerocom (UK) Ltd, at the forefront of pneumatic technology in the UK, will be showing some exciting new developments to the company’s systems and product range at the exhibition. There will also be a chance for both new and existing customers to discuss any needs they may have regarding pneumatic tube systems for a tailored solution.

As IHEEM members may be aware, the Engineering Council guidelines have been amended. SARTOR is something of the past and in its place is UKSpec. Competencies have changed, academic levels have moved up a gear but the need continues for fully trained interviewers and mentors.

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.

As a first time exhibitor at the forthcoming Facilities Show (9-11 May, Birmingham), B.I.G will be taking the opportunity to exhibit two recent major additions to its product line-up.

7-11 May 2006: IFHE 19th Congress, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa. Enquiries: Strategic Business Services, e-mail: registrar@sbs.co.za

Manufacturer Blücher commissioned Building Performance Group (BPG) to provide a whole life cost assessment of four alternative internal waste drainage systems which may be used in an acute hospital. HEJ reports.

With an innovative combination of two optical systems and a unique operating philosophy, Draeger Medical has expanded its portfolio in perioperative care with the new Stella OR light. At this year’s annual meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) in Vienna in May, the company unveiled its latest solution to increase efficiency in the OR and improve working conditions. The company designed the Stella OR light in only two years and received two new patents related to both different lighting systems and their control.

Rigel Medical has launched a unique IEC 60601Checkbox to verify the in-service accuracy of electrical medical safety analysers. The device is designed to verify the performance of safety analysers between formal calibrations to provide an effective control system and avoid situations where testing may be undertaken with instruments that are out of true specification.

This Department of Health report explains the implications and benefits of an integrated approach to hospital cleaning which utilises a combination of microfibre cleaning materials and periodic steam cleaning.

The Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) are partnering with a significant education initiative. They are providing construction and contract personnel with the insights necessary to recognise the inherent risks of progressing healthcare facility projects in patient-occupied buildings, writes Gordon D. Burrill, P. Eng.

ITIL process adoption may be a prerequisite for the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), but implementation is far from straightforward. IT services company Plan-Net has been assisting Barts and The London NHS Trust with implementing its ambitious ITIL processes deployment.

Introduced in 1992, the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) has been something of a “Cinderella” qualification, its true worth never fully appreciated by the profession as a whole. This may change after a recent review of the EngD programme concluded that this work-based, postgraduate award has brought significant benefits to a wide range of companies and industrial sectors.