An imaginative scheme for a children’s speech and language clinic to be sited in a part of Newcastle Upon Tyne rich in history, and a design for a new oncology centre, in Breda, Holland, conceived to help “break the taboo that shrouds cancer” won the student architects the first and second prizes respectively in the 2008 Architects for Health (AfH) Student Awards. Health Estate Journal reports.

A recent report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee suggests that many public sector authorities are not doing a good job of managing operational PFI deals. The Committee’s 36th Report in the 2007-2008 session also suggests many contract managers do not have sufficient commercial expertise, and that the management of contracts is frequently not sufficiently resourced. Health Estate Journal reports on these and other key conclusions.

The National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers 2008 annual conference featured an introduction to healthcare fire safety engineering by David Charters, PhD, CEng, FIFireE, MIMechE., BRE Fire and Security director of Fire Engineering, and a look by Department of Health fire safety policy lead, Paul Roberts, at the key fire risk assessment provisions in the new Part K of the HTM 05-03 Health Technical Memorandum. Health Estate Journal reports.

A large NHS acute hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire expects to achieve a 51% reduction in its annual carbon emissions, and annual financial savings of at least £210,000 on an ongoing basis, with the potential to save considerably more in the future via a continuous improvement programme, following a complete overhaul of an ageing boiler house to form a new, “state-of-the-art” energy centre.

Since the Dyteqta-System, claimed to be the world’s first dedicated non-invasive, non-destructive, fully automatic drainage monitoring system, was launched at last year’s Healthcare Estates event, continued development of this “groundbreaking” system is now providing even greater functionality.

The British Parking Association (BPA) has affirmed its support for “fair and transparent” management of hospital parking following the publication of a recent Which? report on the issue.

How the healthcare sector, and, in particular, the estates and facilities managers running healthcare facilities UK-wide, can “survive, strive and thrive” given an environment where real-term healthcare spending growth could fall below 1% over the next five years, was the main theme of the recent HefmA 2010 national conference in Harrogate.

Ian Stone, business development manager at SHJ Pipelines, examines the arguments – logistical, practical and financial, for remote monitoring of medical gas pipelines, considering the advantages of such systems over “traditional” in-house monitoring from all these standpoints, as well as from the angles of patient safety and responsiveness. He also presents the case for retention of the “status quo”.

Phil Giles of Becker Pumps Australia examines the use of variable frequency drives for medical suction plant, and explains the many potential benefits – both practical and economic.

Eight leading UK engineering organisations last month, in the General Election run-up, issued a “comprehensive call for action” to ensure that engineering “makes the maximum contribution to solving Britain’s biggest challenges: the economy, the environment, education, infrastructure, and public services”.

Being as “visible” as possible, both within the Institute itself, and to influential outside organisations and individuals such as politicians and senior civil servants, strengthening IHEEM’s role as a trusted provider of expert advice on healthcare estate management and engineering issues, and further raising the Institute’s profile and its overall “appeal” to potential new members, will be high on the list of priorities for IHEEM’s new President, Paul Kingsmore, he told HEJ’s editor, Jonathan Baillie, during a recent face-to-face discussion in London.

The goal the team behind Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s new £2.7 million Children’s Kidney Unit set itself was to create a comfortable and relaxing, but equally lively, colourful, and stimulating environment that would help “transform, into something more bearable, and even fun” the time spent in hospital by young patients undergoing haemodialysis and other renal treatments.

Jeremy Dodge, business manager at Marshall Tufflex Energy Management, explains how a voltage optimisation system that, in a claimed industry first, uses “auto-transformers” to reduce incoming mains electricity voltage so that electrical equipment receives precisely the “outgoing feed” it needs to function optimally and no more,

Giving his presentation as one of three speakers in a Architects for Health (AfH)-led session addressing the broader topic of “How to achieve excellence in an age of austerity” at last October’s Healthcare Estates conference, Mungo Smith, a founding director and design lead at leading UK healthcare architects MAAP, discussed a booklet he recently co-authored with Andy Black, chair of international healthcare strategic consultancy Durrow, and Johannes Eggen, a partner at NSW Architects and Planners in Oslo.

Knowing and caring about environmental issues is one thing, but actually doing something about them is different, according to security system specialist and supplier of automatic doors Kaba Door Systems.

A comprehensive introduction to water risk and legislation, with a particular focus on the challenges in healthcare, was provided by Blane Judd, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), at a recent IHEEM seminar in London.

Dyteqta says that, following the launch of it Dyteqta-System at 2009’s Healthcare Estates event, last October’s IHEEM annual conference and exhibition provided “an ideal opportunity for raising awareness of the role of drainage monitoring in controlling the spread of infection in healthcare facilities”, and showcasing the system’s new “user-friendly software”.

The St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says it has reached a significant milestone in a major project via which it aims to cease completely using paper-based patient records and other patientrelated information such as discharge summaries and X-ray results by converting all such documentation to online electronic form.

The options open to NHS Trusts and other large healthcare providers to ensure electrical resilience for their estate, with a particular focus on generator selection, installation, and maintenance, were examined by Geoff Halliday, head of sales at “total generator solutions provider” Power Electrics, at a recent IHEEM “electrical installation” seminar in London.

Medical turnkey pre-installation specialist Canute International Medical Services (CIMS) recently supported provider of managed equipment services Asteral in a project to re-model the Rowan Bentall wing of Surrey’s Kingston Hospital.