IFHE NEWS A whirlwind visit for Federation’s President
The IFHE’s President, Darryl Pitcher, who is also National Secretary of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering Australia (IHEA), reports on a memorable recent overseas trip in his official capacity, which took in several European counties, including England, and culminated in him being hosted by the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) for the Society’s Ontario Chapter national conference.
Many readers would be aware of the close connection between IFHE and IHEEM. The International Federation of Hospital Engineering (IFHE) is the global body that brings together like-minded organisations involved in supporting healthcare and hospital engineering professionals. IHEEM has a special role to play in this relationship, so it was with considerable pleasure that I was able to visit the UK recently, and enjoyed a day with the IHEEM team in Portsmouth. I was happy to meet CEO, Pete Sellars, and all of the head office team, and to thank them for their hospitality and warm welcome. It was great to share the expectations of IFHE, and to see how IHEEM is making excellent progress in technology and business systems to support the IFHE ‘admin’ function.
WHO Assembly in Geneva The visit to the UK followed a series of meetings in Europe, which included attendance at the World Health Organization’s 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. Together with the IFHE/WHO liaison officer, Paul Merlevede, I met with a number of senior WHO staff on the fringes of the WHA activities. In these meetings we were able to reinforce the role that IFHE can play internationally in supporting the initiatives of the WHO. WHO is coordinating a global initiative to provide healthcare for all, under the banner of ‘Universal Health Coverage’, and we were able to reiterate the message that without proper healthcare engineering and facilities support, universal health coverage will not be achievable. We highlighted the necessity of a relevant and appropriate WHO response to the establishment and support of physical assets from which to deliver healthcare services. As we all know, this requires the right design, construction, operation, and maintenance expertise – and this support can come from members of IFHE.
Absence of a specific contact At present WHO is undergoing considerable transformation as an organisation, and one of the ongoing issues that IFHE has faced is the absence of a
20 Health Estate Journal August 2019
Brighton esplanade before I left England behind for Ontario, Canada.
Darryl Pitcher (left) and Paul Merlevede at the WHO’s World Health Assembly.
specific contact person with an interest and expertise in the built environment. We are hopeful that this is changing as a result of the advocacy Paul and I were able to undertake. Following the visit to Geneva, Paul and I drove north west to Brussels for the
Zorg.Tech national Congress – an excellent event, well run, with considerable support from industry stakeholders and members of
Zorg.tech and NVTG in the Netherlands. The focus of the day was ‘Learning from Industry’, and keynote speakers included the head of Sustainability for Nike, and the director of the National Bank of Belgium; both had a relevant message for healthcare engineering professionals. A special thanks to Eddy De Coster, Roger Albertijn, Erik Van Den Wauwer, Paul Merlevede, and many others, for facilitating this visit and making me feel so welcome at the Congress.
After visiting a couple of excellent examples of quality Belgian residential care facilities with Roger Albertijn, Douwe Kiestra, the IFHE’s Past-President, and I drove to Amsterdam, enjoying the Dutch countryside, from where we flew to Rome – to meet with IFHE Vice-President, Daniela Pedrini, and the SIAIS team, to discuss the 2020 IFHE Congress planning, and visit the congress centre and gala dinner venues. SIAIS is well on the way to delivering what will be a fascinating and engaging Congress in May 2020 (see page 21), and I’m grateful to Daniela and her team for the hospitality and support they provided over the course of our two-day visit.
Visit to IHEEM head office It was from here that I made my way to London, and then by train to Portsmouth, for meetings with IHEEM with the support of IFHE Assistant General Secretary, Andy Wavell. As always, Andy and his wife, Chris, were great hosts, and shared with me a part of England I’ve not previously experienced, including a walk along the
In Toronto, I was hosted by the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society, for the Ontario Chapter national conference. Over two days we considered the issues faced in healthcare engineering in Canada, and observed the similarities with the issues we have seen in many parts of the world – with a difference of course – the climate in Canada is so vastly different to Australia that it requires a whole suite of different responses to building technologies, moisture and mould control, and heating and cooling systems, yet there was a familiarity with colleagues facing the ongoing pressures of increasing healthcare costs and improving sustainability to reduce our impact on the environment.
Impressed by professionalism I was privileged to join in the IFHE Congress planning meeting convened in Hamilton, Ontario, and was impressed with the level of professionalism and progress already made by CHES in preparing for 2022. A lot of work is well in hand, and, following Rome, this will be an event you will not want to miss. A huge ‘thank you’ to Jim McArthur, Preston Kostura, Roger Holliss, John Marshman, and all of the CHES team, for making me feel so welcome and involved in the CHES events.
While this was somewhat of a whirlwind visit – passing through seven countries in the first seven days – it was a privilege to be able to share the passion of healthcare engineering professionals across the globe. The IFHE needs your input at a local level to improve the global recognition of our profession, and to enable world-class healthcare in every corner of the planet. Look out for ways that you can connect with your global colleagues on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and WWW), and share your expertise and passion to care. I look forward to being part of the IHEEM conference in Manchester in October this year, where the IFHE Executive Committee and Council meetings will be hosted. I hope to see you there.
Darryl Pitcher (far left) with senior representatives from the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69
