In March 2013, the Department of Health (DH), in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Transport, produced an updated version of Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01), fully supported by the Environment Agency (EA), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the devolved administrations.

Susan Pearson BSc, a freelance journalist and communications consultant specialising in medicine and the environment (see also HEJ – April 2013), reports on discussions, at a recent educational seminar, on a pilot project undertaken by the Environmental Microbiology Unit at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS Trust.

IHEEM’s President, Greg Markham is encouraging the Institute’s members to engage with their local Branches and offer support and ideas for technical visits, ‘fringe themes’, and social events, as part of IHEEM’s planned bid for the IFHE’s 2018 International Congress.

According to Hochiki Europe, 2013 is set to be’ a year of significant change’ for fire detection manufacturers, in the way their products and systems are designed, produced, and used – thanks to the introduction of EN 54-23:2010, a pan-European standard focusing on visual alarm devices (VADs).

London Branch Members and their guests recently attended an evening technical presentation at the King Henry VIII Hotel, Bayswater, at which Matthew Morse, lead technical manager at Clearwater Technology, examined the latest developments in the guidance and standards for achieving and maintaining water quality within buildings, Branch secretary and treasurer, Alan Gascoine, writes.

Successes achieved in the development and running of a new cardiothoracic centre in Essex are numerous. Nicholas Marshall reports.

An Association of Perioperative Practice (AfPP) request for information from members on the standard of outsourced decontamination of surgical instruments has seen three-quarters of those with experience of such services critical of their effectiveness.

The Institute of Decontamination Sciences (IDSc) recently held a conference on decontamination focused on the latest guidelines and best practice. High on the agenda were issues such as the quality control of instruments and protection of patients from the risk of contracting CJD. Louise Frampton reports.

To create better healthcare premises, there is a need to produce designer-friendly guidance that is simpler, more visual, more generic and evidence based, say Dr Sue Hignett Ph.D and Jun Lu M.Arch. B.Eng of the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety research Unit (HEPSU), Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University.

Alistair Cory, principal of architecture and design firm NBBJ Ltd, explains why the challenge of designing sustainable acute hospitals should be accepted.

The Government’s Parliamentary Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee (IUSSC), which in January launched an enquiry into the current “state” of the UK engineering sector, recently held a session in Westminster to hear evidence on the topic from expert bodies. IHEEM chief executive John Long was among those to draft written evidence for the Committee that not only provides an overview of the current UK engineering sector and its major challenges, but also recommends ways to maximise engineers’ contribution in the future.

“Cluttered, dirty and overcrowded” wards, “sloppy hygiene” practices among nurses and clinicians, including use of commodes and bedpans that had already been “condemned”, and board and management-level failure to respond to repeated requests for more nursing staff, were among the major contributors to the 90 elderly patient Clostridium difficile deaths at three large West Kent NHS hospitals between April 2004 and September 2006, a recent BBC 1 Panorama programme suggested. Health Estate Journal reports.

A growing number of young patients at Sheffield Children’s Hospital will soon be able to keep up with schoolwork, access TV and other entertainment services, and telephone friends and family, all at no cost, following the installation of a sophisticated bedside patient entertainment/ computing system supplied by Wandsworth Group. In a believed UK first, the equipment is being entirely funded by the hospital’s charity. Health Estate Journal reports.

Dr Sue Hignett Ph.D and Jun Lu M.Arch B.Eng of the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety research Unit (HEPSU), Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, explore the quality of research available for designers and clinical decision-makers in healthcare facility design.

The need for, and benefits of, health and safety audits within hospital estates and facilities departments, and the link with the Health Technical Memorandum 00: Best practice guidance for healthcare engineering1, are examined by Alan Hambidge, director of risk management consultancy Empathy Environmental Consultants Ltd.

Remote video surveillance has dramatically improved after-hours security at the John Telford Clinic in Ilford, Essex. After numerous incidents of vandalism, the clinic’s security was upgraded to monitored CCTV, using Secom’s Vision service. As a result, criminal activity and attacks on the building have virtually stopped.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has outlined a package of measures to help reduce healthcare associated infections in hospitals, including new responsibilities for matrons, new guidance on clothing and the isolation of patients who are infected.

Almost unnoticed by the engineering profession, the Government is attempting to redefine the term “professional engineer” in a way that will ultimately help no one, apart from this country’s international competitors, ECUK says.

The Healthcare Estates Conference 2007 will take place on the 16-17 October 2007 at the Harrogate International centre and IHEEM is now inviting potential speakers to submit papers for consideration.

Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon – winner of the Off-site Manufacturing Specialist of the Year award for the past three years – has launched a new DVD to illustrate how off-site construction can be used in the healthcare sector.