RECENT NEWS

Daikin Air Conditioning UK has acquired Saltire Facilities Management, a Glasgow-based heating services company, in what it dubs a ‘strategic acquisition’ that it says will enhance its residential heat pump service network in Scotland – a region with significant growth potential for heat pump heating.

Sika, ‘a global leader in construction solutions’, has officially opened its new 280,000 ft2 Leeds Distribution Centre in Sherburn in Elmet, Leeds, with the event attended by local community members, regional stakeholders, and invited guests, for a celebratory afternoon marking what Sika UK describes as ‘a major milestone’ in its growth strategy.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has launched in-depth research to measure how well the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) sector is adapting to the new building safety regime.

Cygnet Elowen Hospital, a new 24-bedded facility in Shipley, Heanor that will provide specialist care for those living with eating disorders, personality disorders, and associated mental health difficulties, held its grand opening last month.

The new NHS National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), due to open later this year near Loughborough, Leicestershire, is to deploy ‘intelligent’ bedside terminals to help patients maintain their independence while recovering from life-changing conditions, such as brain injuries, and illnesses.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP), in collaboration with the NHS Strategy Unit, has launched what it describes a ‘powerful’ new, free-to-use demand and capacity model ‘to transform how the NHS plans future hospital and community services’.

The Water Management Society’s latest course focuses on the requirements for water hygiene training, as detailed in HTM 04-01: Safe water in healthcare premises, and the NHS Estates Technical Bulletin (NETB) No. 2024/3, 'Designing safe spaces for patients at high risk of infection from nontuberculous mycobacteria and other waterborne pathogens'.

Healthcare workers who wash their uniforms at home could unknowingly be contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections, new research has revealed.

Clubs, schools, day centres, and other community settings, could help make health and care more accessible, new research suggests.

The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) has warned that a recent recall of safety shoes sold via TikTok highlights ‘the alarmingly wide availability of substandard personal protective equipment (PPE) in the UK market’.

Assa Abloy Opening Solutions UK & Ireland Door Group (Door Group) has appointed Cormac Hardy as an Electronic Design engineer, through the Knowledge Transfer (KTP) Programme Associate initiative from Ulster University.

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and the government property profession (GPP) have established ‘a strategic partnership’ to drive up standards and innovation across the government estate and workplace and facilities management (WFM) more widely.

Community Health Partnerships (CHP) has published Transforming Neighbourhood Health – a report into how its place-based estate, developed via LIFT Public Private Partnerships, is – as it puts it – ‘already enabling the delivery of neighbourhood care in local communities’.

Construction is underway on the National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT) in Sheffield – described as ‘a pioneering research and technology centre that will tackle some of the biggest challenges in children’s healthcare’.

Leading offsite manufacturer, McAvoy, in partnership with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, has achieved zero landfill waste during the construction of a new Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) extension at Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham.

GP practices across England can now access new technology with the introduction of the first new core IT system for 25 years.

NHS South East London (NHS SE London) says it has identified the best sites for its first two women’s and girls’ health hubs ‘using innovative spatial analysis’.

Millions of patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has announced, as – in the words of the Department of Health and Social Care – the Government’s Fit For The Future – 10 Year Health Plan for England, published today (3 July), ‘delivers a brand new era’ for the NHS, and ‘one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the health service.’

Willmott Dixon has started a £30 m regeneration programme at Barnes Hospital, recently joining patients, carers, NHS staff, teachers, and local leaders across health and education, in marking the commencement of works to develop an NHS mental health facility and a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) school there.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for ‘urgent action’ to tackle what it calls ‘a global crisis of loneliness and social disconnection’, in a new report informed by the research of Professor Pamela Qualter from The University of Manchester.