RECENT NEWS

The Engineering Council has successfully been voted in to join the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), becoming the 24th member of the Government-appointed body.

Tesco, Veolia, Groundwork, and NHS Property Services, have joined forces to recycle soft plastics into outdoor furniture for upcoming social prescribing green spaces.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced today (Wednesday 7 August 2024) that it has provisionally decided to fine Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd (Advanced) £6.09 m following an initial finding that the provider failed to implement measures to protect the personal information of 82,946 people, including some sensitive personal information, in an NHS ransomware incident in August 2022

Willmott Dixon has been chosen by Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board to build a new £20 m mental health unit in Bristol for people across the northern half of the south west region with a learning disability or autism.

More than 1,000 newly qualified GPs will be recruited across England thanks to government action to – as the Department of Health & Social Care puts it – ‘remove red tape currently preventing surgeries from hiring doctors’.

Security services specialist, Magenta Security Services, has launched a programme to provide mental health and 'general wellbeing' support to staff.

Global resource management company, Veolia, is set to deliver Specialist Estates Engineering and Maintenance Services to a range of NHS and public sector authorities, after securing a place on the North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) Hard FM Framework.

Zentia, a UK specialist in complete ceiling solutions, has spent £2 million on upgrades and refurbishments at its two manufacturing sites in Team Valley, Gateshead, in an investment that reflects its commitment to UK manufacturing.

Building work on Assura’s new surgery in Shirley near Southampton has officially completed, and the new facility is ready to welcome patients.

Security and access control solutions specialist, Abloy UK, has launched a new ‘white paper’, titled Securing the Future: Revolutionising Critical Infrastructure Access Control with Digital Solutions, which it says ‘investigates the transformative potential of digital access control technologies’, specifically focusing on the comparative strengths and weaknesses of Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth.

A new NHS Supply Chain regional distribution centre that will support 115 NHS Trusts is now fully operational at Gorsey Point strategically located within 3.5 miles of junction 7 of the M62, five miles from junction 12 of the M56, and close to the access point onto the Mersey Gateway Bridge, which links Runcorn and Widnes.

A new therapeutic garden at Shields Health Hub in North Shields, formerly known as Priory Day Hospital, has been completed as part of the Healthy Happy Places programme.

Chief Executive of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation, Dr Richard Kirby, has been given an honorary doctorate (DSc) from Aston University in recognition of his significant contribution to healthcare leadership.

Carrier has officially opened a new training academy at its Bracknell service and rentals depot, reinforcing its dedication to training, and ‘inspiring the next generation of engineers and technicians, while helping to address the skills gap in the HVAC sector’.

Glasgow-based software specialist, Simul8, is working with NHS Boards and Trusts on process optimisation initiatives ranging from patient scheduling in oncology units to patient flow through fertility departments, modelling maternity services, and optimising trauma and orthopaedic wards.

Thanet District Council in Kent’s Planning Committee has recently voted unanimously to give outline planning permission to the long-awaited Thanet Health Campus, which developer, Quinn Estates, says will deliver a ‘once-in-a-generation’ project for the local area.

‘Digitising fire safety compliance in healthcare estates’ will be the title of a free-to-attend webinar presented by Tom Ford, Honeywell’s National Business Development Manager for Connected Life Safety Services (CLSS) in the UK & Ireland (pictured), being held at 11.00 am on Wednesday 17 July in association with Health Estate Journal.

Tamara Karim (pictured) has been appointed as the new Social Value manager at modular healthcare building and hospital construction specialist, MTX Contracts.

Two of the UK’s major building services engineering organisations have agreed to work more closely ‘to ensure progress on several key initiatives’, including the push for Net Zero in the built environment, and the delivery of the Building Safety Act.

A close to £1 m fire safety system upgrade at Newham University Hospital has won fire installation specialist, M&G Fire Protection, a ‘highly accredited’ fire system installation company, the award for ‘Fire Safety Installation Company of the Year’ at the 2024 Fire & Security Matters awards.