RECENT NEWS

‘Hundreds’ of schools, NHS Trusts, and communities across the UK will benefit from new rooftop solar power and renewable schemes to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a total £200 million investment from the UK government and Great British Energy, it was announced on 21 March.

NHS Property Services has launched its new Green Plan, a comprehensive three-year strategy which it says is aimed at reducing the environmental impact of NHS facilities, and ‘progressing towards a Net Zero carbon future’ by 2040.

Global multidisciplinary engineering and design consultant, Cundall, says the appointment of Jordan Mason as an associate director, based in its London office, reflects the business’s ambition to strengthen its science and technology service offering.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has officially become a Trade Associate of the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) – which it says reinforces its commitment to raising standards in construction product information and marketing ‘in the light of the Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report’.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (the MHRA) recently welcomed Health Minister, Karin Smyth, to its science campus in South Mimms as part of British Science Week ‘to demonstrate how innovations become safe, effective treatments for NHS patients’.

A webinar to be held by MRI Software in association with Health Estate Journal at 11.00 am on 1 May will focus on ‘the significant challenges the NHS faces in estates and facilities management due to fragmented systems, manual data collection, and inefficiencies’.

Assa Abloy has acquired Senior Architectural Systems Ltd (SAS), an independent aluminium fenestration systems supplier in the UK.

Efforts to deliver one of the government’s major NHS priorities – to shift more care into the community – will need to be boosted by targeted capital investment in buildings, facilities, and equipment for community providers, a new survey of senior health leaders, undertaken by the Community Network, hosted by the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, suggests.

Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has confirmed that Dr Penny Dash (pictured) will be the new Chair of NHS England.

More than 75,000 people across England will be better supported in the community following an increase in funding for nursing care, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced.

To mark National Nutrition Month, Sodexo UK and Ireland has published a nutrition report, Promoting Healthier Lives Every Day – How the science of nutrition shapes our food, revealing ‘the collaborative approach’ between its dietitians, nutritionists, chefs, and supply chain, as ‘the recipe for success in developing nutritious, tasty meals that promote healthier lives every day’.

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) is marking this year’s National Careers Week (taking place from 3-8 March) by launching the search for a fresh cohort of Deborah Rowland Scholarship recipients.

NHS Property Services (NHSPS) says it is proud to celebrate International Women's Day this week (on 8 March) ‘by highlighting the incredible achievements and contributions’ of women in its hard facilities management (‘HFM’) teams.

New independent research by health technology consultancy, nuom, has found that while the UK public is ‘largely open to innovative uses of technology’ in healthcare, ‘trust drops significantly when AI is involved in more personal aspects of care’.

New laws ‘putting growth, small businesses, and transparency, at the heart of public contract awards’ are now in force as part of ‘a transformation’ of the government’s commercial landscape that delivers on the Plan for Change.

Cagni Williams Architects has launched a sister practice, Cagni Williams Energy, to focus on project decarbonisation, and particularly decarbonising dense urban areas.

Amanda Pritchard, who has been CEO of NHS England since August 2021, and Chief Operating Officer since 2019 – ‘leading the NHS through the most challenging period in its 76-year history’ – has notified the NHS England Board of her decision to stand down as NHS England CEO at the end of this financial year.

Multidisciplinary consultancy, Pick Everard, has expanded its Health & Safety (H&S) team, welcoming two senior new personnel as it strengthens its position as one of the largest H&S teams within a UK consultancy.

Sodexo Health & Care has joined forces with Culinary Medicine UK, a non-profit organisation, to further enhance patient care with a dedicated online platform that it says offers NHS staff ‘access to valuable nutrition education modules’.

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has launched a new framework agreement, Building Safety and Fire Compliance, ‘to address the need for robust fire safety systems in healthcare settings’.