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HEALTH SECTOR NEWS Steam system upgrade for cancer institute


The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, a ‘world-class’ biological research facility that conducts studies into the basic biology of cancer, has streamlined maintenance of its steam systems with the help of Spirax Sarco, in the process ‘mitigating outstanding risk’ and freeing up in-house resource within its Facilities team to focus on other activities.


Steam is critical for humidification at the facility in ensuring optimal conditions for research, with minimal fluctuation. Spirax Sarco said: “Failure of the boiler or steam systems would, however, have a knock-on effect on the entire site, with every minute lost potentially jeopardising key research.”


Alistair Wilson, the Institute’s Facilities manager, is responsible for all elements of the building’s upkeep and smooth operation, including security, cleaning, catering, mechanical and electrical services, alterations and refurbishment, and premises-related health and safety legislation. The Facilities team also has a key building liaison role on any new-build and major refurbishment schemes. For a team working at capacity, having to liaise with multiple suppliers on maintenance


contracts was becoming unwieldly. He explained: “Typically, when looking at boiler maintenance, we have one specialist firm to carry out work on the boilers, a second to undertake works on the controls, and a third for any works on the burners.” Keen to consolidate and simplify the existing maintenance set-up with the reassurance of a reliable preventative maintenance service, the Facilities manager spoke to the local Spirax Service specialist to discuss the most suitable way to achieve this, confident in the expertise of a team that works on such equipment every day. During their first visit, Spirax Sarco’s service engineers conducted a full boiler strip-down to inspect the internal components and assess the boiler’s


Eastwood Park Training marks 50th year


performance. This included a full service of the feedwater and blowdown vessels and the electric condensate recovery unit. A new service contract with Spirax Sarco also includes an annual steam trap survey, and, following the initial survey, the company reported back on detailed operating conditions for each trap, the total cost of steam losses, and the return on investment for rectification work. During the audit it became clear that the boiler controls had not been maintained correctly, while some of the steam distribution control applications had not been refurbished for around nine years. Leaks were apparent, with unstable steam supply at the humidifiers. To return the system to optimum operating levels, Spirax Sarco replaced a number of traps and valves, and provided a valve refurbishment and reconditioning service to extend some of the worn components’ lifespan. Spirax Sarco said: “Overall Alistair and his team now have significantly improved reliability and maintenance, and one integrated contract for the whole system. We even coordinate with the local engineering insurance inspector so that he doesn’t have to.”


More patient care


Eastwood Park, the long-established engineering, estates, and facilities management training centre, this year celebrates 50 years of delivering training. On its private 200-acre Gloucestershire estate, Eastwood Park has hosted trainee engineers, managers, and directors in their formative years, and many now work in healthcare services worldwide. Since the 1960s many hospital engineers and estates personnel have started their apprenticeship training at the centre. The Grade II Victorian country house and estate was owned by the Home Office during WWII, and later the Police, prior to being handed over to the NHS. Today Eastwood Park is independently owned, following a successful management buyout 16 years ago, when the company further developed to attract local and corporate events business to maximise the potential of the


estate when training was not scheduled. With new water, health and safety, and medical equipment courses on its latest scheduled training calendar, to be launched this month, Eastwood Park is currently ‘undergoing further transformation’. The main house is in the midst of a refurbishment, with phase one to be completed mid-year, while a new purpose-built training centre on the estate, to eventually replace the existing specialist learning facilities, is under development. CEO, John Thatcher, said: “We are delighted to be marking our 50th year with 12 months of significant change and development to continually improve the expert training we deliver. I have the pleasure of leading a dedicated team of staff and associates, without whose expertise and support we would not be where we are today.”


in the community More NHS patients will be cared for at home and in their community to avoid them going into or staying in hospital unnecessarily, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, has announced, as she pledged to cut ‘needless’ hospital admissions and help inpatients return home sooner – through community-based ‘rapid response teams’, and dedicated support for care home residents.


Setting out ‘a major new investment in primary and community healthcare’ – worth £3.5 bn annually in real terms by 2023 – she said the ‘24/7 rapid response teams’, comprising doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists, would provide urgent care and support in the community as an alternative to hospital, including both emergency treatment and support to help patients recover closer to home, ‘to help people stay healthy and independent for longer’. The Department of Health says that as many as a third of people in hospital stay longer than they need to. It said: “Alongside the pressure this puts on the health service, staying in hospital can be bad for patients’ health.”


January 2019 Health Estate Journal 13


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