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looking at the cleaning processes, and how the process for instrument decontamination, cleaning, and sterilisation, are validated. He also discussed how residual protein detection can help maintain the effectiveness of the washer processes. The day’s final session was presented by Matthew Peskett, managing director of Peskett Solutions, who introduced the Synoptics Health ProReveal fluorescence protein detection test technology, and shared his experience of its use in healthcare settings. He explained that the technology, which uses fluorescence to check and detect residual proteins; had enabled developments in designing new surgical instruments, and advancements in optimising washer-disinfectors.
Electrical seminar
A week later, at the same London venue, the IHEEM Electrical Technical Platform presented a seminar on ‘Section 710 Medical Locations’, chaired by the Platform’s chair, Mark Richards. In the day’s first session, Paul Harris, a Chartered Electrical Engineer, and the director of Harris Associates, provided a background to the Section 710 Medical Locations standards, and how they have been developed to incorporate European and international requirements. Paul Harris also discussed the need to move away from MEIGaN, and the requirements of HTM 06-01, as well as exploring the context of Section 710 Medical Locations in relation to the UK Wiring Regulations. He subsequently discussed how to define a Medical Location, and how to determine which group it belongs to.
Matthew Mears, a technical manager from Brandon Medical, presented the next session, on ‘Medical IT Systems’. He began by providing a definition of what a Medical IT System is, the key components involved, and how the system works, and went on to look at the challenges of balancing loads.
Section 710 Medical Locations Al Rufaie, a consultant electrical engineer, provided a commentary on the Section 710 Medical Locations guidance notes, and explained the background to the notes, as well as identifying the key areas within the guidance to focus on. Darren Griffiths, director of RS Earth, then discussed the ‘Verification of Medical Locations’, looking at the challenges of a test engineer, the testing and inspection requirements, and frequency of inspections. The final session provided an opportunity for delegates to debate key themes with the panel of expert speakers. Key areas discussed included the need to move away from the outdated MEIGaN guidance; the importance of correctly determining a Medical Location rating, and the testing, inspection, and verification requirements, involved.
Fire seminar
The third IHEEM seminar of 2017 was a joint IHEEM and NAHFO (National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers) Fire Safety seminar held at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds on 2 February. The day’s first session, presented by Tom Rhodes, Bradford District prevention manager at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, looked at how the NHS and Fire Service are working together. The speaker gave insights into how the Fire Service is proactively helping the local community. He believed that ‘partnership working is key to delivering our objectives’ – recognising the value of partnership working across the sector and with key stakeholders. This was evident in a tragic case study he presented focusing on an elderly patient who was ‘high-risk’ when released from hospital, and, due to lack of partnership working and communication between stakeholders, died in a house fire. The seminar chair, Peter Aldridge, who is the head of Fire, Security, and Corporate
Affairs at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and Secretary to NAFHO, looked at the challenges of conducting fire drills in healthcare settings.
Fire damper testing
George Friend, CEO of Ventilation Surveys and Services, discussed the challenges and requirements of fire damper testing, providing advice for Trusts on what they need to be looking for and requesting from a contractor. He discussed some of the issues faced when undertaking fire damper testing – such as data cables and pipework being in the way, and limited access, and provided some useful best practice tips, including recommending labelling the location of fire dampers, and holding a register of all dampers to assist contractors in locating the dampers to test.
The penultimate presentation, by John Maxfield, director of Fire Suppression Technology, looked at ‘Protection Against Fires in Hospitals and Care Homes’. John Maxfield presented the example of a facility in south Yorkshire which deployed a fire suppression kit to reduce the spread of the fire and aid evacuation. During the session, he explained how fire suppression technology works, and how fire suppression systems can be effective in challenging environments, such as healthcare settings with vulnerable people.
Nigel Hiorns, managing partner at Fire Ingenuity LLP, gave the day’s final presentation, on ‘Fire Strategy: Enabling Safety and Design Excellence’, considering the benefits of having a common framework in place for fire safety in healthcare. He also reviewed the guidance currently in place, and discussed its usefulness.
IHEEM is in the process of organising further seminars for this year, including one on ‘Ventilation’, and will be announcing details soon.
Apprenticeship ‘zone’ will address perennial issue
A major focus on apprenticeships in the first of two new theatre ‘zones’ on the exhbition floor, and a second new theatre zone dedicated to ‘Facilities Management’ – with the content put togther jointly by IHEEM and HefmA – will be among a number of exciting new features at IHEEM’s flagship annual conference and exhbition, Healthcare Esates 2017, which takes place from 10-11 October at Manchester Central. More details on the new Facilities Management theatre and zone will be revealed in next month’s HEJ, while IHEEM and the event’s organisers, Step Exhibitions, are working with a number of key organisations to develop the new area dedicated to apprentices and companies
8 Health Estate Journal April 2017
actively promoting apprenticeships in healthcare.
Steve Webb, event director, said: “With effective succession planning, and attracting young engineering talent, perennial issues for IHEEM and the wider sector, we will be announcing an exciting programme for apprentices at this year’s Healthcare Estates event. Indeed during last month’s National Apprenticeship Week 2017, IHEEM Company Affiliate, Troup Bywaters + Anders (see page 10), hosted a successful evening for Company Affilates at its London offices, with the programme including a fascinating account – by three of the company’s own apprentices – of TB+A’s award-winning apprenticeship programme.” The event
was attended by over 50 leading organisations, and also saw IHEEM President, Peter Sellars, outline his ‘vision’ for IHEEM – including attracting more young engineers – as well as updates on this month’s Hospital Innovations 2017 event and October’s Healthcare Estates 2017 events. The new theatre in Manchester will be branded, ‘Apprentices today – leaders tomorrow’, and will feature presentations by apprentices, employers promoting apprenticeships in the sector, and Trusts supporting the initiative.
Making an impression
Steve Webb added: “The theatre will offer presentations by apprentices on their experiences in the healthcare sector, from
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