RECENT NEWS

NHS Trusts, other healthcare providers, and organisations and individuals within the architectural and construction supply chain, have a great opportunity to have their scheme, project, or service-user engagement, recognised and celebrated at this year’s Design in Mental Health Awards, with the ceremony taking place at the end of the first day of the DiMH 2025 conference and exhibition at Manchester Central – 3 June.

SPARK TSL has appointed David Hawkins as its new Sales director, to support take-up of the SPARK Fusion infotainment solution by NHS Trusts and Health Boards.

A multi-million pound project to create ‘state-of-the-art facilities’ to support mental health patients in Norfolk and Suffolk has achieved sectional completion for three new wards and a gym facility.

Willmott Dixon has secured a place on the new NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Decarbonisation of Estates Framework, which is set to run for four years, and expected to be worth £500 m.

Underfloor heating and bedheads in bedrooms are the latest facilities being installed at the UK’s first NHS National Rehabilitation Centre, which will begin receiving patients later this year.

Scottish Borders-based Scotmas, a specialist in what it describes as ‘environmentally friendly’ water disinfection solutions, has secured £2.2 million in equity funding to support its international expansion plans.

In a recent webinar held jointly by NHS Property Services (NHSPS) and health and social care charity and ‘think tank’ , The King’s Fund, 85 per cent of participating NHS Estates and Finance leads said they would be more likely to attempt to access alternative funding methods following the discussions.

Krista Halttunen, PhD, has been named the first CEO of Halton Group’s parent company, with the task of developing Halton Ventures into ‘a capable and active owner and investor, as well as an attractive development partner’.

NHS Property Services (NHSPS) says its annual report for 2023/24 demonstrates ‘a strengthening in its refreshed strategy to deliver a better estate, and brilliant service for our customers’.

Water management specialist, Cistermiser, has welcomed what it dubs the ‘ ambitious’ water-saving targets for commercial buildings recently set by DEFRA.

Carl Bridgwood has been appointed as the new manager of Abloy UK’s Digital Access Solutions Academy, a purpose-built facility to educate, install, and test the company’s range of products, with a particular focus on a new digital solutions and ecosystems portfolio.

A ‘revolutionised’ NHS app is among a raft of proposals just announced by the Department of Health & Social Care aimed at ‘giving patients greater power over how and when they receive elective treatment’, as the Government sets out its roadmap to cutting waiting times, as confirmed in the Plan for Change.

Healthcare businesses could save over £200,000 a year on average from solar energy applications on previously unused car park space, according to research from Solspan, which claims to be the only UK company specialising in solar car port installations.

Dr John Lazar CBE, FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (pictured), has received a Knighthood in His Majesty The King’s New Year Honours List for services to engineering and technology.

Bury-based door hardware specialist, UAP, has announced the acquisition of Armadillo Metal Coatings, marking what it describes as ‘another milestone in its ambitious growth journey’.

Housed in a refurbished supermarket which had been derelict for nearly a decade, a locally built community space, which will include GP facilities, is set to breathe life into the Cornish town of Helston, says the clinical designer on the project – MJ Medical.

The Howard de Walden Estate (HdWE) says Re:Cognition Health (RCH) has signed a new 20-year lease for 62-64 New Cavendish Street in London’s Harley Street Health District for a new ‘brain and mind clinic’.

Arcadis, a leading global company that delivers sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, has been appointed on the NHS Building for Wales 2 Framework (BFW2) Lots 1 and 2, as a design partner for Principal Supply Chain Partner, Kier.

The Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG) has announced ‘a comprehensive restructure’ to enhance competence and safety standards across the built environment.

Tilbury Douglas, a UK building, infrastructure, engineering, and fit-out business, has successfully built Knowl Park House in Mirfield, a ‘state-of-the-art’ dementia daycare centre and Centre of Excellence for Kirklees Council.