TRAINING


knowledge to work on critical systems within hospitals? Apart from their initial training, they need to learn alongside colleagues, and mentoring on the job is vital too, but there has to be a hands-on practical experience to fully understand and be able to replicate the skills they need to mend, service, or set up equipment and plant within a hospital. I say we often take the development of appropriate attitudes and the practical elements for granted, because we do. However, we are constantly reminded of the importance of adopting safe working practices and infection control procedures, for example. We hear engineers say that the learning experience at Eastwood Park does equip them more adequately to operate at the sharp end in a hospital or equivalent critical healthcare environment than many other comparable experiences.


Because the learning takes place in related hospital environments, this does enable students to learn from their mistakes, safely and without risk to others. For example, our new high voltage (HV) training facility – where there is a simulated 11 kV open ring system with six distribution substations and an intake substation based on a typical hospital system with dual feeds and bus coupler – has simulated faults which gives learners the opportunity to fault find and operate switchgear safely, under close supervision.


Networking hidden benefit Our medical gas centre has been further extended with a range of manifolds and a live medical gas piped system where a significant part of the time during training sessions is spent operating and setting up equipment so that it functions safely and efficiently. ‘Hands on’ and ‘practical’ are phrases that many glibly use – but maybe fail to recognise the real value. Often we are reminded that one of the reasons we remain a leading provider of training within healthcare engineering and estates is that we have all these facilities under one roof. In addition, delegates on our courses are interacting across a wide range of engineering disciplines, from healthcare to non-healthcare areas, and with colleagues from not only the other end of the country, but equally the world. The benefit of retaining some of the more traditional equipment/facilities is that it also allows engineers to experience functionality that they need to fully understand, but which some newer equipment wouldn’t allow them access to. Our scheduled decontamination training at Eastwood Park is unique – because delegates are removed from the distraction and pressure of their everyday work, and join peers with whom they are actively encouraged to share experience and important lessons learned. Building upon this they are guided by industry


54 Health Estate Journal March 2017


The new high voltage (HV) training facility features a simulated 11 kV open ring system with six distribution substations and an intake substation based on a typical hospital system with dual feeds and bus coupler.


experts through the core knowledge requirements of their target roles, and then given ample opportunity in our extensive training facility to turn this knowledge into realistic practice with support and expert guidance throughout. Delegates will leave Eastwood Park with a certain knowledge of what they must consider and achieve in their workplace to confidently stand up in their selected roles.


Standards


In the UK the Health Building Notes (HBNs) and Health Technical Memoranda (HTMs), plus various other Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs), provide the basis for the training Eastwood Park delivers today, whether it’s in the design of our training, the planning of an audit, or the competencies required by staff. They influence our curriculum; hospital staff’s job roles, and need for refresher training. HTM 00, section 6, states that: ‘All personnel employed in the design, operation and maintenance of engineering services, including maintenance personnel and operators, should receive adequate, documented training.’


Updated water HTM drives latest water training


Most recently the revised guidelines presented in HTM 04-01, Safe water in healthcare premises, published in 2016, are driving significant changes in the way we deliver our water hygiene portfolio. For example, the introduction of a Water Safety Group and Water Safety Plans – although previously included in the Addendum – has greater impact than many originally thought. Training should be considered more thoroughly. More


recently water training has focused mainly on preventing the proliferation and dissemination of Legionella bacteria in and from water systems. Latterly some of this training has incorporated information in respect of the risks of Pseudomonas as well. The recently published HTM 04-01 (2016) has updated and integrated previous guidance, including recommendations for the safe management of water systems, and the principles of the Water Safety Group (WSG) and Water Safety Plans. It provides guidance on how the risks to health from microbiological, physical, and chemical contamination, changes to the water system, and resilience of the water supply etc, should be managed and minimised. A stronger emphasis on staff competencies, and the implementation of water hygiene awareness training, is a new addition.


New guidance


The new HTM includes the need to consider other pathogens and the significant difference in how these are transmitted, i.e. transfer to and from outlets to patients and staff, and also from water to patients/staff before and after the outlet. There is also new guidance on the need for the hygienic storage and installation of pipework, fittings, components, and equipment, and much more. In short, the training requirements are far wider-ranging in the new HTM, and our new water courses reflect this.


Refresher training should fill a knowledge gap Refresher training is exactly that; designed specifically to support all to stay up to date with the latest best practices.


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