RECENT NEWS

London South Bank University (LSBU) and the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) have launched a new joint research and innovation centre.

The two organisations say the BSRIA-LSBU Innovation Centre (‘BLIC’) will support building services in the construction sector by promoting collaborative research between LSBU’s School of Architecture and the Built Environment (BEA) and ‘world-renowned’ BSRIA.

LSBU is one of the leading UK universities educating and training building services engineers for employment in the construction sector. The University’s graduates account for around 70 per cent of building services engineers employed in the UK construction sector every year. BSRIA, meanwhile, is distinctive for its global reach and expertise in the built environment sector; it works in 93 countries and says that for 65 years it has been ‘at the forefront of the energy efficiency and carbon reduction agenda’.

NHS CEO, Sir Simon Stevens (pictured), has announced that the NHS and its staff will ‘step up action to tackle the climate health emergency’ via three key measures – the first a new ‘expert panel’ to “chart a practical route map this year to enable the NHS to get to ‘net zero’”, the second a proposed new NHS Standard Contract calling on hospitals to reduce carbon from buildings and estates, switch to ‘less polluting anaesthetic gases and better asthma inhalers’, and encourage more active travel for staff, and the third a ‘grassroots campaign’ to encourage staff and hospitals ‘to cut their impact on people’s health and the environment’.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia are ‘crowd-funding’ a new project to test former professional football players for early signs of dementia.

A new report published by skills and education ‘think tank’, EDSK, has found that ‘millions of pounds’ of the government’s Apprenticeship Levy are being spent on so-called ‘fake apprenticeship schemes’, which, in reality, are ‘relabelled degrees or training courses for existing staff’.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) has secured government approval to start work on its two ‘new state-of-the-art facilities’ for south-west Londoners.

Following news last April that draft guidance developed jointly by the Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN) and the BRE for testing some of the products most widely used in mental healthcare settings would be put out for consultation later in the year, it is hoped finalised guidance can be published this Spring.

The Design in Mental Health Network is involved – together with infrastructure advisory specialist, Archus, NHS England, and NHS Improvement – in the update of HTM 66, 'Cubicle Curtain Track', which covers design for curtain tracking and rail systems, and is seeking for views and opinions to help shape the new guidance from a wide range of informed stakeholders.

Patients and staff have moved into the new, 'state-of-the-art' Broadmoor Hospital, which replaces the old hospital, most of whose buildings pre-date the foundation of the NHS.

Seeking simultaneously to improve lone worker and service-user safety, and to address communication needs, at its Holly Lodge facility – a ‘unique’ housing development in Lymington for people with autism and learning disabilities, Choice Support selected a two-stage ANT Telecom alarm system operated via a dedicated IP DECT platform, combined with base stations, alarm server, room locators, and ruggedised DECT lone worker handsets.

All 2,250 patients with learning disabilities and autism who are inpatients in a mental health hospital will have their care reviewed over the next 12 months, Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock has announced.

Polypipe – the manufacturer of ‘sustainable drainage and water management solutions’ – says it is proud to be one of the founding members of the C3 Alliance, a group of manufacturers, contractors, and developers, who aim to boost productivity and value on construction projects through early collaboration.

Paramedics will soon be able to access the mental health crisis plans of emergency patients while on the move, following the successful first pilot phase of the National Record Locator.

‘Hundreds more’ NHS mental health beds are needed urgently in England to help end what it dubs the ‘shameful’ practice of sending severely ill patients far from home for treatment, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned.

An independent report commissioned by the Royal College last December, Exploring Mental Health Inpatient Capacity across Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships in England, which was published on 6 November this year, estimates that 1,060 more mental health beds are needed to reduce bed-occupancy rates ‘to acceptable levels’.

Well-known architectural practice, P+HS Architects, which has its roots in Yorkshire and the North East, has announced that after 32 years with the firm – the last 10 as MD – Joe Biggs will retire at the end of November, and will be succeeded by co-director, Chris Dennis, with whom he has worked with and known for 40 years.

Following an early career in the south of England with a multidisciplinary practice, Joe Biggs has spent most of his working life with P+HS Architects, where he began his long association with healthcare. His first project was for Teesside Hospice, and, continuing along the healthcare route from that point, he went on to be involved in hundreds of successful projects – from small refurbishments to major new build hospitals and health centres.

Polyflor, one of the UK’s leading vinyl flooring manufacturers, has been appointed as a recommended supplier to the ProCure22 (P22) Construction Procurement Framework.

Administered by the Department of Health & Social Care, the P22 framework was created ‘to provide the NHS with the tools to deliver improved estate performance while lowering construction and maintenance costs’.

‘One of the UK’s best-known hospital furniture and fit-out brands’, Fife-based Havelock, has been acquired out of administration by contract furniture specialist, Deanestor for an undisclosed sum.

Deanestor said: “The Fife-based Havelock business became a UK market-leader in the manufacture and installation of furniture in the healthcare sector.”

Havelock Europa Plc was listed on the main London Stock Exchange for 31 years, from 1987 to 2018, with a peak turnover of £138 m in 2008. In 2001 it acquired ESA McIntosh. Havelock International was incorporated in 2016, and in 2018 the business of Havelock Europa was sold to Havelock International. The deal for the intangible assets of Havelock International also includes the hospital fit-out brand, ESA Healthcare.

The Care Quality Commission’s annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England, 'State of Care 2018/19', shows that quality ratings have been maintained overall – but suggests that people’s experience of care is determined by whether they can access good care when they need it.

A new survey released today by NHS Providers has found that 82% (161) of NHS Trust leaders think the current climate of restricted capital funding ‘poses a medium or high risk to patient safety’, and could undermine plans to transform the NHS.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham say they have created an antimicrobial coating for steel surfaces which has proven in a trial to rapidly kill bacteria that cause some of the most common hospital-acquired infections.

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has – as it puts it – ‘smashed targets’, saving £242,681 in 19 months, and triumphing in the Reuse category of the NHS Sustainability Awards, with the help of the Warp It system that helps staff to reuse and recycle.