COVER STORY: New elective surgical hub at Colchester Hospital marks MMC milestone for MTX

The Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre (ESEOC) is reportedly the UK’s largest MMC development of its kind, built in five phases using 293 offsite-manufactured structural steel units. Designed to handle up to 10,500 cases annually, including 4,000 day cases, it provides state-of-the-art surgical and recovery spaces, including ensuite single rooms, X-ray facilities, a therapy … Read more

Climate response ‘still largely on paper, rather than practice’, survey reveals

Conducted for Mace by Censuswide, the research of over 4,000 building portfolio and asset managers across the UK, USA, UAE, and Hong Kong, working across 14 sectors – including healthcare, architecture and engineering, residential real estate, retail and leisure, and infrastructure, was conducted by to gain a better understanding of how asset managers are meeting … Read more

Robotic and emergency maternity surgical theatre unveiled at North Tees facility

Constructed on the hospital’s first floor, it spans the space above the atrium near the main entrance, and is supported by permanent columns from the ground floor. One of the most ambitious estates projects in the hospital’s history, the new theatre complex includes a ‘cutting-edge’ robotic surgical and training space, and a dedicated emergency maternity … Read more

Door specialist highlights ‘critical new foreword’ impacting steel doorsets’ design and specification

A new UK National Foreword has been published alongside the revised version of the extended application (EXAP) standard, EN 15269-2, following concerns raised within the industry about potentially unsafe design practices previously permitted under the standard. Assa Abloy Door Group says industry testing revealed that the addition of a threshold to a steel fire doorset … Read more

London Cancer Hub planning application submitted

Aviva Capital Partners (‘ACP’) and Socius have submitted a planning application to Sutton Council for the development of the London Cancer Hub, which they say ‘is set to become the world’s leading district for cancer research and treatment’. Situated within Europe’s leading cancer treatment centre, the proposed 12-acre site in Belmont sits adjacent to The … Read more

MPs proud to lay final bricks at new Essex CDC

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust says the new facility, under construction by Morgan Sindall, will allow patients to access essential diagnostic services such as CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, heart scans, lung checks, blood tests, and X-rays, ‘at a time and place convenient for them, seven days a week’, with an extra 75,000 appointments … Read more

Capital funding boost for primary and community care key for government’s ‘three shifts’, Confederation says

The NHS Confederation is urging the government to use the upcoming Spending Review to continue to increase investment in capital funding for estates, equipment, and technology across the NHS. The Confederation said: “The government has committed to developing a neighbourhood healthcare service, with local neighbourhood hubs which bring primary, community, and other services under one … Read more

More refrigerant bans possible says government

Jacob Andresen, who leads Defra’s F-Gas policy team, told a briefing event hosted by ‘the UK’s primary F-Gas register’, REFCOM, the government was ‘still listening to the industry’, and looking for ideas to help it meet increasingly demanding safety and environmental targets, including potentially speeding up the removal of HFC gases from the market. He explained … Read more

Royal Bolton’s ED ‘transformation’ plans

The Bolton NHS Foundation Trust says the Department will remain open ‘24 hours a day, 7 days a week’ throughout the building work. In all, £1.74 m in funding will be used to reconfigure the Emergency Department and Urgent Treatment Centre to help meet national targets for the four-hour quality standard and ambulance handovers. The … Read more

Philips and Essex Trust launch ‘sustainable’ IR suite at Chelmsford hospital via pay-per-use model

The suite is equipped with the Philips Azurion 7 guided therapy system, which the multinational says has replaced ‘outdated equipment that was frequently breaking down and causing issues for staff’. Philips said: “With the new technology in place, clinicians can now perform a full range of routine and complex interventional procedures with ease and confidence. … Read more

Engineering Council officially launches new UK-SPEC HRB Standard

The new UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence and Commitment contextualised for Higher-Risk Buildings (UK-SPEC HRB) has been developed by the Engineering Council in response to recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety, Building a Safer Future, commissioned by the UK government in the aftermath of 2017’s  Grenfell Tower … Read more