Agfa HealthCare exhibited its new suite of solutions including, Agfa ORBIS, the company’s clinical and administrative Hospital Information System and its Enterprise Clinical Portal solution at Healthcare Computing 2007 in Harrogate May.

The potentially illegal photographing of patients is highlighted in new Department of Health guidance on the use of mobile phones in NHS hospitals. Health Estate Journal reports.

IHEEM members may have noticed in the Institute News section of last month’s Health Estate Journal that the Institute’s secretariat has signed up to the CIBSE 100 days of Carbon Cleanup.

Members of IHEEM’s Southern Branch met at Rolls-Royce Motor Car’s head office and manufacturing plant in May for a guided tour of the factory.

Minutes of the 38th Annual General Meeting held at the Blakemore Hotel, 30 Leinster Gardens, London, on Tuesday 10 May 2005.

The new Mid Argyll Community Hospital, a pioneering integrated community health and social care facility in Lochgilphead, Argyll, is nearing completion and is due to open in May 2006.

Minutes of the 39th Annual General Meeting held at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, 1 Carlton House Terrace, London, on Tuesday 16 May 2006.

Numerous important issues were closely examined at the 19th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE) held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, in May.

The 19th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE) was held in Cape Town, South Africa, last May.

A look at how the physical healthcare environment can continue to provide a safe, fit-for-purpose setting for high quality care as services start to be recommissioned, and planned care recommences, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Two expert writers highlight some of the problems with existing wording and phraseology in guidance and standards documents.

This Health Estate Journal ‘Then and now’ feature describes some viewpoints from 1960 on how to provide a healthcare environment that helps to protect patients. Over the past half-century, healthcare premises have changed hugely, but considerations outlined in the article remain of interest today. The source of the feature is described in a panel on this page.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has published The National specifications for cleanliness in hospitals, a guideline for meeting new auditing standards that all Trusts must follow.

Susan Pearson BSc reports on a recent specialist waterborne diseases ‘masterclass’ held in Nottingham, at which leading experts discussed not only the control of Pseudomonas, but also other problematic waterborne pathogens such as Legionella, the cause of Legionnaires‘ disease.

Last December one acute hospital in south Wales, the University Hospital Llandough near Cardiff, was forced to cancel eight operations, with 81 patients affected in total, after thieves stole copper cabling from a back-up generator.

Although (the Department for Communities and Local Government’s ‘Fire statistics’ reveal) the number of such incidents has fallen every year since 2006/07, UK fire and rescue services still attended over 312,400 ‘false fire alarms,’ i.e. instances where, on arriving at a site, they found no fire, in 2011/12.

According to Alan Hambidge, who has over 22 years’ experience in health and safety risk management, and is an expert in legionellosis and water hygiene, ‘recent developments and research’ have resulted in ‘an increase in the Health and Safety Executive’s expectations’ on the standards adopted by healthcare organisations in looking after their water systems.

Mark Chapple BSc (Hons) IEng MIHEEM AMCIBSE examines the issue of engineering ethics, and asks ‘whether ethics is an alien word to the engineering profession?’

Some of the key priorities for estates teams managing older healthcare estates to ensure that buildings and plant are maintained in a safe, serviceable, and fit-for-purpose condition.

Some of the key issues for estates managers to consider when planning training and selecting a trainer.