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The suite is equipped with the Philips Azurion 7 guided therapy system, which the multinational says has replaced ‘outdated equipment that was frequently breaking down and causing issues for staff’.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

Rockwool secures initial approval for West Midlands manufacturing facility

The non-combustible insulation manufacturer submitted a Section 73 application to Birmingham City Council requesting permission to vary some of the details in the current planning permission for the Peddimore site, north-east of Birmingham. Now, with approval secured, it plans submitting a more detailed Reserved Matters application later in 2025 or early 2026, providing specifics on … Read more

North Kent CDC scheme now in final phase

Following the completion of the foundation works, all 20 building modules, each weighing over 20 tonnes, have been installed on site. The modules were constructed off site at ModuleCo’s Gloucestershire manufacturing campus, and delivered at 90% completion. Internal fit-out work are now under way, with the project on track for completion and handover this June. … Read more

SSD and aseptic pharmacy on Innovation Campus completed

Developer, Prime plc, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS), Willmott Dixon, Macquarie Group, and IHSS, say the ‘milestone’ emphasises the growing impact of public-private collaboration in the healthcare sector. Located within the campus’s Plot 2, the new facility houses ‘a highly specialised’ aseptic pharmacy and Sterile Services Department. It will also produce sterile medicines … Read more

Project manager appointed for ‘billion-pound’ Airedale General scheme

The award-winning Trust employs over 3,000 people, and provides acute, elective, specialist. and community care for a population of over 200,000 across Yorkshire and East Lancashire. Gleeds will be responsible for delivering a new ‘state-of-the-art’ facility and associated amenities that it says will meet evolving patient needs under the government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP). The … Read more

Strong study evidence of wellbeing benefits of viewing visual art

Artworks encompassed in the review included famous pieces such as The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, and other modern and contemporary art. The authors advocate integrating art into mental health strategies ‘as a low-cost and easily-accessible resource’. The review – of 38 previously published studies covering 6,805 participants – … Read more