A look at the critical role played by microbiological water testing in improving patient safety, and some key maintenance priorities for estates team to keep healthcare water systems running safely and hygienically.

An Authorising Engineer for specialist ventilation and water quality discusses the threats to health, and especially to immunocompromised patients, posed by Cryptococcus, a fungus he believes is not especially well understood in healthcare engineering circles

Paul Musgrove, UK Development manager at shower room and washroom specialist, Conti+ UK, discusses some of the many and varied considerations and priorities for estates and facilities teams managing healthcare washroom systems, and outlines some of the recent advances in the field from the company.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, associated steps to ensure patient, staff, and visitor safety, are currently likely to be uppermost in the minds of healthcare estates teams.

At look at how a better understanding of cleaning and maintaining ductwork can improve the design of ventilation systems and reduce fire risk.

Elaine Waggott, director of Operations for Angel Guard and Water Kinetics, and a former head of the Business Development team for Ideal Standard/Armitage Shanks, discusses some of the key risks posed by aerosol transmission of harmful pathogens.

Three Australian professionals at the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, discuss addressing what they dub the ‘Unholy Trinity’ of factors that can lead to Legionella colonisation and spread.

In the context of the recent update to British Standard (BS) 8580-2: Risk assessments for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other waterborne pathogens, Armitage Shanks recently brought together in London experts from across the healthcare sector to discuss what the changes mean in practice, and the role of the multidisciplinary team in preventing and responding to waterborne pathogens. Anil Madan, UK Non Residential Marketing manager for Ideal Standard and Armitage Shanks, reports.

Reducing the risk of Legionella is hard-wired in healthcare facilities, but recently attention has turned to another waterborne pathogen – Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to Public Health England,1 in the year to March 2021, 39% of P. aeruginosa cases originated in healthcare, exacerbated by the increase in hospital admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drawing on experience in Germany, Jochen Abel of Universität Karlsruhe (TH), Facility Management (TMB), Karlsruhe, highlights the importance to public private partnerships in the healthcare sector of developing effective models which can the be used time and again in future.

Advice for facilities managers considering the removal of ligature points to reduce the risk of patient suicide and self-harm is provided by Laidlaw Solutions.

Paul McDermott PhD, specialist inspector working in the Health & Safety Executive’s Biological Agents Unit, provides an insight into HSE’s approach to inspection and enforcement in the control of Legionella bacteria.

Manufacturer and supplier of LED theatre lights, HD camera systems, video integration technologies, and ceiling support units, Trumpf Medical Systems UK, and “logistical services” company Canute International Medical Services (CIMS), one of whose specialities is providing mobile medical units for diagnostic imaging, have entered into a partnership that will see the two companies offer fully fitted out modular operating theatres and other medical/clinical buildings incorporating the latest technology and equipment, on a fully project-managed, “turnkey” basis.

As debate continues over the importance of incorporating automatic sprinkler systems into healthcare facilities, Andy Passingham, associate director at Arup Fire, considers how Arup, the multi-disciplinary engineers for two high profile new Welsh hospitals under construction in Ebbw Vale and Caerphilly, addressed fire safety on both projects.

With courtyards’ therapeutic effects and potential positive impact on patient recovery well-documented in a number of studies, Mark Barker of Archial Architects details some successful examples of their use in healthcare and other buildings, and presents a personal view on how users can optimise their design.

A new healthcare facility for the rehabilitation of patients with brain, spinal, and other neurological conditions, that architects Murray O’Laoire and Brian O’Connell Associates say will “raise the stakes” internationally in the treatment and care of such patients and, on its 2014 completion, be “among the world’s most accessible buildings”, is planned for Dun Laoghaire near Dublin.

Health Estate Journal discusses with medical auction specialist Hilditch Group how Trusts and other healthcare providers can safely and gainfully dispose of, at auction, equipment no longer required, discovering how both buyers and sellers can benefit.

Aquacair believes proper ventilation hygiene is a key tool in ensuring that healthcare premises provide a healthy, safe and comfortable environment, while also making certain, as far as is practicable, that all energy used by ventilation and air conditioning plant is put to good use. Here the company sets out the key priorities for estates and facilities managers seeking to make sure that such plant and equipment performs at optimum efficiency.

How an overheating television apparently started a fire and a sizeable subsequent explosion at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital last September, the ensuing evacuation, and the valuable lessons learned, were the subject of an informative recent seminar presentation by Mike Ralph, at the time the hospital’s estates and facilities director. Jonathan Baillie reports on the presentation, given at a joint IHEEM and NAHFO “Fire Safety within Healthcare Premises” seminar in London.

One year on from the publication of the Health and Safety Executive’s HSG 274 Part 2 guidelines on controlling Legionella bacteria in hot and cold water systems, Carole Armstrong, marketing manager at Delabie UK, considers three point-of-use anti-scalding technologies that help to control the risk of scalding in environments with low, intermediate and high levels of risk to patients, staff, and visitors. She also considers different solutions suggested by the guidelines for reducing bacterial contamination while minimising the risk of scalding.