Paul Marsden, Public Health Technical Specification manager at Baxi, and Chair of the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) Industry Working Group, discusses the challenges and opportunities for NHS Estates and Facilities managers surrounding the decarbonisation of domestic hot water. He argues that the high hot water demand frequently associated with healthcare premises makes it

Here, in the third in a series of articles running in HEJ this year on hospital wastewater systems, Steven Van De Peer, an Authorising Engineer (Water) at Tetra Consulting, discusses what he believes are ‘some of the opportunities for the UK to lead in such systems’ design’. He warns that the only way to eliminate

The Maternity Unit at Copenhagen’s Hvidovre Hospital has recently reintroduced nitrous oxide to support women in labour pain, having ceased using it a decade ago due to concerns over potential health risks to staff. Denmark has since, however, developed new safety protocols for N2O use, and with the gas a highly effective analgesic, the hospital

A longer-term solution to meet the needs of Estates departments is an Enterprise Asset Management system that can be used to track and manage assets throughout their lifecycle. The landscape of hospital estates has changed dramatically over the last decade. Where key drivers for those managing hospitals and healthcare settings used to be predominantly user

Andrew Rolf, Healthcare Technical Advisory lead at Mott MacDonald, Helen Sturdy, National head and Procurement Framework and Construction lead at ProCure23, and Colin Hamilton, Sector director – Health, ISG, discuss the Government’s growing preference for the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in both new-build and ‘refurb’ healthcare projects. Against this backdrop, they explain

HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, recently met up with Associate Director for Estates & Facilities at East Cheshire NHS Trust, Rob Few CEng, FIHEEM, to discuss an ambitious and far-reaching portfolio of refurbishment, new-build, and carbon and energy reduction measures currently in progress at Macclesfield District General Hospital and two smaller hospitals operated by the Trust.

The presentation of seven awards recognising achievement in areas ranging from sustainability to capital projects, a drinks reception accompanied by a rousing Welsh male voice choir, a sumptuous dinner, and a standout performance from opera singer, BBC Wales presenter, and star of the Go.Compare insurance comparison website advertisements, Wynne Evans, were the highlights of a

A central aspect of the Authorising Engineer Lifts AE (L) role is an annual audit. Our audits consider a broad range of advice and standards relating to lifts. These include healthcare-specific guidelines such as those detailed in HTM 08-02: Design and maintenance of lifts in the health sector, and the Premises Assurance Model, lift-related standards

The NHS is the largest employer in the UK, with over 1.5 million staff, and two million volunteers. If the service is to achieve its world-first Net Zero goal, emissions from healthcare facilities must be reduced significantly more in the coming months. This makes the service an ideal candidate for further carbon footprint reduction via

The NHS and its building infrastructure are undoubtedly facing challenges that could impact the health of vulnerable patients, but there is another risk which could add to these if not taken seriously – Legionella. Legionella is a waterborne bacterium that lives in the natural environment, but generally only becomes a major risk to human life

In the second in a series of hospital wastewater-related articles running in HEJ this year (the first was published last month), Peter Orendecki, Senior Contracts manager and Water AP at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, highlights the apparent lack of understanding of the risks posed by hazardous bacteria in hospital waste systems among some

Alison Ryan, deputy Healthcare lead at Mott MacDonald, Chris Kelly, an associate director, Estates Compliance and Risk, at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), and Mike Cooke, MD, North & Scotland, at Vital Energi Utilities, look at the role of regional heat networks in addressing some of the challenges ahead with respect to achieving Net

Clive Nattrass, who is on secondment to the NHPower programme from the Carbon and Energy Fund, explains in this article how the programme is using collaboration to manage risks associated with Trusts progressing to Net Zero, while his colleague, the CEF’s Technical director, Stephen Lowndes, focuses on the opportunities for decarbonisation of natural gas at

The New Hospital Programme is about so much more than construction; we are responsible for delivering buildings that are clinically relevant and flexible for the future. The bottom line is that we need to create a better space for care, so it is important that we view new hospital builds as if we were the

With record-breaking temperatures increasingly becoming the new normal across Canada, and catastrophic wildfires and floods a not-too-distant memory, the time for climate resilience planning was yesterday. Globally, we have seen 1.1 °C of warming since pre-industrial times, and Canada is warming faster than the global average, due to its northern latitude. At the 2022 Canadian