The extent to which a hospital’s built environment, ward and clinical layout, and the clinical procedures deployed, are directly linked to hospital-acquired infection rates, and how existing experience and studies can be best harnessed when designing new healthcare facilities, are examined by Graeme Gidney, an associate director at Buro Happold.

According to water purification equipment suppliers, estates and facilities teams are now increasingly involved in specifying, purchasing, configuring, and maintaining the sophisticated equipment required to clean and disinfect endoscopes, and, more especially, the water purification equipment needed to ensure an effective “clean”.

While a familiar issue for seasoned estates and facilities managers, the problem of dirt and dust in ducting, and the potential consequences of insufficient cleaning of hospital ductwork, are in danger of being ignored due to a lack of available funds for proper maintenance within ever diminishing healthcare estate budgets.

CIRIA has announced a number of courses for 2007 aimed at enabling a better trained construction industry.

One of the most important challenges facing the UK healthcare estates community, particularly given the sector’s ageing profile, is how to attract new talent, especially, but not only, in terms of school, college, and university leavers, who may well never have considered healthcare engineering or estate management as a potential career.

Data destruction and IT asset disposal are heavily regulated and complex areas, especially within the NHS, which is responsible for the safekeeping of extremely personal data on millions of UK citizens.

Despite advances in technology, the importance of steam in NHS hospitals cannot be undervalued. Nevertheless, according to steam system specialist, Gary Sowerby CEng FEI, ‘it is becoming a feature which, like the tiger, is facing extinction’. However, as he puts it, ‘it is still of vital importance when we discuss the central role of steam in the hospital steriliser’. In this article, he aims to provide what he dubs ‘a vital understanding of the provision of efficient and good quality steam to the steriliser plant’.

Following IHEEM’s work to strengthen and promote the role and importance of professional development and independent AEs across all its specialist engineering platforms, members highlighted the urgent need to actively support the development of AP and CPs. IHEEM’s Decontamination Technical Platform is now piloting a programme in Wales aimed at directly supporting such personnel. John Prendergast, an IHEEMregistered AE(D) leading the pilot, discusses the wider issue of engineering governance in healthcare facilities, and ongoing work to ensure that engineers at all levels are competent.

Paul Millard, Technical manager at Water Regs UK, looks at some of the key ways to reduce water consumption and waste in healthcare facilities, while maintaining a safe and wholesome supply, as well as some of the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences if water-saving measures are not implemented with sufficient thought, care, and expertise.

In this article, Dr Mike Simmons, Public Health Microbiologist at Public Health Wales, and the clinical lead for Public Health Wales Microbiology Services to the Hywel Dda Health Board, examines and explains healthcare-associated infections, or HCAIs.

The second of two articles from Australia in this month’s HEJ considers some of the key steps to take following incidents of water ingress to a healthcare facility.

A senior associate at multidisciplinary design, property, and construction consultancy solutions business, Pellings, reviews the various procurement options open to NHS Trusts.

Refurbishments are becoming increasingly common across the NHS, but planning and delivering construction projects in live medical environments with the minimum of disruption to patients, staff, and visitors, is no mean feat, as Richard Hall, a director at integrated property services and project delivery specialist, Styles&Wood, explains.

Mike Kwok, senior vice-president of Professional Services at provider of integrated software and services for facilities asset management, facilities capital planning, and capital spend management, VFA, discusses how healthcare organisations can more effectively plan and prioritise capital improvements, improve asset utilisation, and obtain much-needed funding.

The potential pitfalls for health estates, board-level, and other senior healthcare personnel should proper health and safety and risk assessment procedures not be set out, followed, recorded, and regularly reviewed, and the legal ramifications of any failure of duty under legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Corporate Manslaughter Act of 2007, were examined at a recent IHEEM risk seminar in London.

Hospitals are now providing feedback on a range of infection prevention technologies selected by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency for evaluation. Promising innovations include a system that uses hydrogen peroxide vapour for decontamination, and a test device for monitoring the cleanliness of equipment and wards. Louise Frampton reports.

Chris Birch, business development manager, Medical Services, at Romac Technical Services, examines the key steps that need to be followed to ensure successful removal, installation, or relocation of the wide range of equipment, machinery and associated items used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Group Health Co-operative (GHC) in Seattle has sold its last hospital. In future, GHC will provide healthcare to over 600,000 people by using hospitals belonging to other organisations. Nigel Edwards and Richard Darch explore whether hospital buildings should be owned by NHS Trusts.

Commanding increased attention are issues relating to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in the workplace and a new EC Directive. Technical report by Dr Didier Bozec DUT (France) BSc (Hons) PhD MIEE MIEEE MIHEEM, laboratory manager, York EMC Services; and Dr Mark Tyndall MPhys (Hons) PhD, engineer, York EMC Services.

Issues relating to the security of hospital premises are examined by Henrik Kiertzner MBCS CITP MIEE FRSA, associate director, Arup Security and Risk Consulting.