The second of our IFHE articles this month takes a look at a project to create a new medical clinic for the 3,000-strong workforce of one of the world’s largest coal reserves, in Mozambique. Two of the key medical priorities will be lung health and hearing.

In the run-up to the heating season, start-up dangers are a serious problem for many heating systems using steam as a heat source, warns Spirax Sarco, ‘largely due to them having lain dormant over the summer’.

How NHS estates teams are developing, and can benefit from, BIM, and how NEC3 contracts, and the new ProCure 22 Framework, enable the collaboration required for BIM to succeed.

The practical and logistical challenges of designing and building the UK’s first high-energy proton beam therapy facility – which is set to open next summer – described in detail.

There are many factors to consider when dealing with sound and vibration in and around hospital sites.

A look at a collaborative project to determine whether the hospital oxygen (O2) infrastructure in the UK had sufficient capacity to supply the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 patients.

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust’s vision for a new standalone decontamination centre in Enfield to bring together such services from its three hospitals – some housed in ageing and cramped facilities – under one roof in one modern, well-equipped ‘supercentre’, was successfully realised last year thanks to a partnership with CFES as main contractor, and specialist equipment supplier, Getinge. Louise Frampton, editor of HEJ’s sister publication, The Clinical Services Journal, reports on the impressive new £14 m facility.

The professional team delivering the emergency Nightingale Hospital at Harrogate Hospital has been announced.

The new ‘circa-500-bed’ facility, part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will see the Harrogate Convention Centre in North Yorkshire converted to accommodate level three critical care beds in the Centre’s halls for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Speaking as part of the European Healthcare Design Congress, three senior speakers fror, Brandon Medical, discussed how the use of ‘smart and flexible’ such equipment is key in supporting Modern Methods of Construction

Lee James, General manager – Product Marketing, at fire detection equipment specialist, Nittan Europe, cautions against cutting corners on fire detection systems in hospitals and other healthcare premises.

University Hospital Crosshouse in Kilmarnock in south-west Scotland has installed two new AI-assisted CT scanners into its Medical Imaging Department 'to future-proof diagnostic imaging services for local and regional patients'.

At IHEEM’s 2022 Authorising Engineers conference, Brian Kirk, from the Institute’s Decontamination Technical Platform, and Paul Harris, Chair of the IHEEM Electrical Technical Platform, looked at the evolution of standards within healthcare engineering and estate management.

The sound and acoustics generated in healthcare settings have a major impact on both patients and staff. With sound levels increasing, Andrea Harman, from Saint-Gobain Ecophon, discusses some of the main considerations in creating a quieter, more calming, recovery environment.

Paul Marsden, Public Health Technical Specification manager at Baxi, and Chair of the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) Industry Working Group, discusses the challenges and opportunities for NHS Estates and Facilities managers surrounding the decarbonisation of domestic hot water. He argues that the high hot water demand frequently associated with healthcare premises makes it a clear focus for reduction in associated energy use and emissions.

New advances in sluice room technology mean that hospitals can improve their infection prevention and control procedures – while still saving money and reducing carbon emissions, according to ‘world-class’ infection prevention and control specialist, DDC Dolphin. The company’s Marketing and HR director, Zoe Allen, outlines the latest new opportunities available to NHS Trusts.

Stuart Douglas, Director of Specialist Estates Services, part of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, discusses issues facing Welsh healthcare estate management and engineering personnel.

The trade body for Britain’s pest control industry says tackling issues with vermin in hospitals will become a greater challenge, ‘due to legislation affecting control methods in the sector’.

Michèle Wheeler, International Health and Life Sciences director, and Karen Bryson, Transformation Expert adviser, at healthcare and life sciences consultancy, Lexica, delve into ‘the evolving landscape’ of the global health and care sector, with a look at ‘the pivotal part’ they believe technology and AI will play in future healthcare transformation.

Simon Witts, a director at VA Sciences – a scientific consultancy based in Vermont, Victoria, in Australia, which offers a fully developed suite of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) services, discusses the integration of heat pumps into existing hospital systems. He examines the challenges and necessary adaptations for replacing traditional gas-fired systems with heat pump technology during the electrification process.

A look at annual ventilation plant checks, comparing and contrasting how the roles of professional ventilation verifier and Authorising Engineer (Ventilation) are positioned to ensure that indoor air in healthcare premises is of the highest quality.