An article first published in The Australian Hospital Engineer examines some of the issues around corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete, and how to combat them.

With surgical advances seeing hospitals and other healthcare facilities now undertaking an ever wide range of procedures, increasing emphasis is now being placed on the quality of the lighting installed in operating theatres, where ‘older’ technologies like halogen and xenon gas discharge are increasingly being superseded by LED.

HEJ reports on the Wandsworth’s Group’s recent installation of a new Internet Protocol-based nurse call system at the PFI-funded and built Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Established in 2005 on a 78-acre site near Watford by a research-based consultancy, testing, and training organisation with a reputation for independence and impartiality, the BRE’s Watford Innovation Park is today home to a broad range of research, consultancy, and testing activities, for the built environment.

The recent Ecobuild 2012 conference and exhibition in London focused on the key environmental issues and challenges for the UK construction, estates and facilities, and architectural sectors, as well as on the ever-broadening choice of ‘green solutions’ available from suppliers of everything from solar panelling to reed-based dwellings.

Ian Hinitt, until the Summer of 2012 deputy director of Estates at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is spearheading an ambitious joint-venture project between Apex 4D, he and his business partner, Balbir Panesar’s recently established Bradford-based outsourced FM company, and Leeds-headquartered architectural practice, Bowman Riley.

The long-awaited guidance document from the Department of Health is colourful in more ways then one. Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-01: Safe Management of Healthcare Waste was published in December 2006 and replaced the old “purple book” (The Safe Management of Clinical Waste). Was it a sign of things to come that the old guidance had a purple cover, a colour which is now used to indicate cytotoxic and cytostatic wastes? Catalyst Waste Solutions’ managing director Nigel Turner explains the new legislation.

The Code of Practice in the Health Act 2006 will assist NHS organisations plan and implement how they can prevent and control healthcare associated infections. Estates and facilities managers need to closely adhere to the Code, which has the potential of yielding significant benefits. Report by KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS.

Organisations are frequently frustrated by the unbudgeted cost of crime and insecurity but do not necessarily take proactive measures to resolve the problem. Security is rarely viewed as an investment – protection is not as expensive as insecurity, writes Nick van der Bijl, BEM, chairman, National Association for Healthcare Security.

A report by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts has highlighted anxieties about the way in which information technology provision for the NHS is progressing. Health Estate Journal reports.

The conclusions of an in-depth German study into the optimal design of operating rooms and their associated storage / auxiliary facilities are examined by Sonja Koneczny, Dipl.-Ing.(FH), M.Sc., of the Experimental-OR and Ergonomics Department, University Hospital Tuebingen, Germany.

Cabling system company Connectix describes the advantages, and explains the potential pitfalls, of using preterminated cabling with 10 Gb transmission.

Adrian Parkin, Howorth Medical contracts director, examines the benefits of using a modular approach to operating theatre construction and recommends putting a box around what is designed rather than designing to fit a box

Cost allocation for FM services in hospitals, and the monitoring of quality of maintenance services, were examined in two papers prepared for the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering. Important pointers for the future running of facilities were contained in the two papers, which are summarised by Health Estate Journal.

Wireless communication is not a new concept, but developments in the technology can lead to problems of implementation and other difficulties. However, help is at hand - Ascom Wireless Solutions offers some basic guidance and dispels the myths.

Michael Touhey MSc IEng MIHEEM MIET and EurIng Carl McKenzie BSc(Hons) CEng MCIBSE FIHEEM MASHRAE scrutinise the efficiency of natural ventilation in the healthcare setting during hot weather and consider that supplementary mechanical air movement is necessary.

The provision of an optimum environment for the delivery of mental healthcare services is examined by Chris Liddle, chairman of HLM Architects.

Winning the fight against infection requires the use of high quality disinfection products, the employment of strict cleaning procedures, and the provision of improved support for hospital workers involved in cleaning, says Ram Singh, managing director of Amity UK.

The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London, devised and implemented an innovative solution to decontamination challenges faced within the context of pressing time constraints. Report by Margaret Hollis, head of decontamination at the Trust.

Ideas for optimising the management of waste and hazardous materials in the medical field are provided by Ing. Monika Schaffer MSc who has responsibility for waste management at the Vienna General Hospital in Austria. This article is based on a paper presented at the 1st European Conference on Healthcare Engineering held in Baden-Baden, Germany, last September. The conference was staged by the European Competence Center of Healthcare Engineering, an organisation formed by a group of associations most of which are members of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering. Health Estate Journal is grateful to Monika Schaffer, the ECCHE, and the IFHE for their help in providing the article for publication.