IHEEM AE REGISTERS Graeme Dunn BEng (Hons), CEng, MIHEEM, MCIBSE
Graeme Dunn has over 25 years’ healthcare engineering experience, including through seven years’ employment with the NHS and 16 years with WS Atkins. In April 2015 he formed his own company, Merkland Design & Engineering Consultancy (MDEC) Ltd, and currently provides AE (MGPS) services to both the NHS and private sector UK-wide. He has been an IHEEM member from 1993, joining the Register for MGPS AEs in 2009. His MGPS- related services include audit of operational management
level of competence required of a CP employed by an external contractor is more onerous than that of the CP employed by the healthcare facility, due to the breadth of their remit. The line manager should thus have set up an assessment criteria checklist to establish the true competence of the CPs within their contracting company. For example, if a healthcare facility’s AP has contracted a specialist medical gas contractor to maintain its medical gas distribution and supply systems, the contractor should have suitably trained and experienced CPs, assessed for their specific skills. Has, for example, a CP attending site to maintain a medical air plant been fully trained on the equipment they are to maintain? If so, how has this been assessed, and where is the evidence to give the AP the confidence that the level of competence is measured, and that the work will be done by someone suitably qualified? One potential option is for independent IHEEM-registered AEs to assess both the contractor and the ‘line manager’ within the contracting organisation. A formal assessment process should be developed to allow all parties to understand the assessment criteria, and the format via which the assessment will be performed.
arrangements; compliance audits; assessment of candidates nominated for the AP (MGPS) role; design services and technical evaluation of submitted designs; commissioning services; specifications for plant replacement; advice on system modifications; dental air and vacuum systems (DAVS), and pathology laboratory gas systems.
Merkland Design &
Engineering Consultancy Ltd T: 07983 804281;
E:
gdunn@mdec-mgps.co.uk AP considerations
Note that the term ‘Authorised Person’ in the context of specialist medical gas contractors is omitted for a specific reason, which I will now explain. The AP is an appointment specific to the healthcare facility with which the AP has been assessed by an independent IHEEM- registered AE. The AE will recommend by letter to the executive manager that the AP has successfully demonstrated his or her ability to take responsibility for the medical gas systems within the facility, and that they should be appointed. However, a widespread misconception is that having simply attended an AP course automatically allows the individual to carry out AP duties. If, however, the external contractor has been requested to provide AP services for a client, then this is acceptable. Nevertheless, the ‘prospective’ AP must be assessed by an independent IHEEM-registered AE, and appointed by the Executive Manager for the healthcare facility within which they will be responsible for day-to-day management. Equally, an AP appointment is not transferrable from one hospital to another.
Day-to-day responsibilities Finally, the EM must recognise that, although an appointment of an AP from
Peter Williams BSc (Hons), PGD, MIHEEM, IHSM
Peter Williams is a highly experienced medical gas Authorising Engineer, who first embarked on work in the medical gas field as an AP in 1978. He has served as a lecturer/training consultant since 1983, combining this with his AE role for the past 28 years. His company, Health Technical Ltd, offers a range of independent Medical Gas Pipeline System (MGPS) services in the UK and abroad. The growing Health Technical team provides both MGPS auditing and training (AP/CP basic and refresher courses, Quality Controller and dental courses, DNO training, porter/nurse, cylinder/gas handling, and awareness sessions), and ‘train the trainer’ and other bespoke medical gas courses. The company also offers AE and AP services, commissioning, CAD drawings, and consultancy and professional technical advice.
Health Technical Ltd – T: 07758 964278; E:
info@healthtechnical.co.uk
a specialist medical gas contractor has been made, they must consider their ability to attend to the day-to-day management responsibilities, particularly if the AP provides such duties on other sites, as well as other non-AP related duties.
AE collaboration
I believe that collaboration and the level of experience available as a group will benefit not only AEs, but also the health service, and ultimately the patient. It is reasonable to assume that, regardless of the discipline, there will be common aspects of the role adoptable across the disciplines. For example, the Foundation
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