With hospital closures ‘happening up and down the country’, preventing once functioning healthcare buildings from falling into dilapidation is crucial, argues Rogier Donkersloot, managing director of international ‘property guardian’ organisation, DEX Property Management.

With increasing pressures on healthcare services, it has become ‘routine’ that changes are made to bring about cost savings whilst still maintaining the quality of patient care.

A significant number of critical healthcare applications rely on precise temperature control – from theatres and wards to MRI scanners and even mortuaries. If disaster strikes and a temperature control system fails, being able to rely on a pre-arranged contingency plan for both chillers and boilers can be the difference between hours and weeks of downtime. Russ Baker, director UK – Hire, at ICS Cool Energy, explains.

Our third article on the role and remit of Authorising Engineers focuses on the key responsibilities of the AE (MGPS), some of the challenges for such personnel in healthcare settings, the need for competence and suitable experience, and the process for registration.

Dr Nick Hill FIHEEM, director of Water Quality London, considers some of the implications for healthcare engineering and healthcare estate management personnel of an increasingly digital world, and discusses the results of a survey of senior such personnel on the topic.

Con McGarry, Senior consultant and Solution lead for Digital x Healthcare* at Arcadis, discusses how – against a backdrop where many healthcare organisations worldwide are determining how they move closer to a digital technology-enabled future – the journey from concept to actual implementation remains challenging. He advocates ‘an approach that goes beyond technology acquisition’, using a Strategic Technology Roadmap ‘rooted in understanding the distinct challenges that an organisation faces and quantifying them’.

Speaking at the IFHE’s 2022 Congress in Toronto, IHEEM’s CEO, Pete Sellars, and President, Paul Fenton, argued that the planning and construction of ‘siloed’ hospitals ‘is over’, discussing a very different model for future healthcare planning.

Amy Krause, Architectural Design manager at private healthcare company, Mediclinic Southern Africa, takes a look at what she describes as ‘the seven flows’ of healthcare, what each contributes to a hospital or other healthcare facility, and the challenges in aligning them with stringent regulations and end-user expectations.

A new £110 m health and care complex at Catterick Garrison (HEJ – April 2023) – a joint project between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the NHS – is under construction and due to open next year, and will provide a range of health services for military personnel and the local community, including general practice, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, mental health services, X-rays, and ultrasound. As Karina Dare, Primary Care Estates Strategy lead at NHS Property Services (NHSPS) reports, supporting Humber and North Yorkshire ICB and working with DIO (Defence Infrastructure Organisation) and the Defence Medical Services on this joint project was a first for NHSPS.

IHEEM-registered Authorising Engineer (Water), Karina Jones, of Eta Projects, discusses some of the risks to patients in hospitals and other healthcare facilities from contaminated wastewater, and suggests a number of often simple-to-implement measures that can be taken to mitigate these risks.

Dr Thomas Bone-Winkel, founder and CEO of oji Europe, explains the potential impact the company believes its hypochlorous acid-based oji active air system could have in eradicating harmful airborne pathogens in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and thus significantly reducing the chances of infection for patients, staff, and visitors

In this ‘Q&A’-style article, Martin Green, Commercial Training and Support manager at Hochiki Europe, discusses some of the key questions that health estates and facilities teams, hospital building owners, and responsible persons within the healthcare sector, need to ask to ensure the safe and compliant installation of emergency lighting.

In the March 2024 HEJ, Consultant Medical Microbiologist, Michael Weinbren, head of Estates Risk and Environment at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, George McCracken, Susanne Lee of independent public microbiology consultancy, Leegionella, and Consultant Medical Microbiologist at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Dr Teresa Inkster, argued that ensuring patient safety in new healthcare facilities requires a markedly different approach to design and construction. Here, in the second half of the article, they discuss some of the key issues requiring particular consideration against this backdrop to ensure a successful project outcome.

While maintaining a sterile environment is aways a priority for on-premises laundries (OPLs), the importance of this factor is redoubled for healthcare estates – where eliminating the risk of cross-contamination is essential to preventing the spread of bacteria. With this in mind, Mick Christian, Training & Demonstration manager for Electrolux Professional UK & Ireland, discusses best practice, and how new technologies can help Laundry managers enhance both hygiene and productivity.

Graham Barker, a Partner and the head of Vertical Transportation at multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, Cundall, discusses some of his experience delivering lift projects in the NHS, and some of the consistent issues he has encountered, and how these can best be addressed. He also highlights the key guidance and regulatory requirements for the safe operation and maintenance of lifts in healthcare premises, the ramifications of BT’s decision to switch off the existing analogue (copper) phone line system from September 2025, and the key capital investment considerations around new or refurbished lifts.

Eoin McQuone, Commercial Business director at washroom specialist, Rada, discusses the key changes in the revised HTM 04-01, and explains why new innovations in water management systems are a critical part of preventing waterborne infections.

There’s a potential vandal in each of us, especially when it comes to using public washrooms and toilets.

A detailed look at combating the threat posed to building occupants via the infiltration into, and dissemination from, ventilation systems, of microorganisms, and how an innovative UVC technology-based solution can tackle it.

A nurse call system specialist has developed a software product extension to enable easy viewing of the wealth of data generated in a ‘clean and accessible’ form.

Jonathan Waggott, an expert in sanitary infection control issues, Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and member of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers who runs his own consultancy, takes a look at the many potential ways to clean and disinfect showers in the healthcare environment, and, drawing on study evidence, considers the efficacy of each.