COMMENT IHEEM Ensuring a level playing field for all engineers


JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF HEALTHCARE ENGINEERING AND ESTATE MANAGEMENT


Editor: Jonathan Baillie jonathanbaillie@stepcomms.com


Technical Editor: Mike Arrowsmith


BSc(Hons), CEng, FIMechE, FIHEEM


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All who work at senior level in healthcare engineering and estate management will know how hard it is to attract and retain good engineers. Not only do many young and aspiring engineers – it seems – rarely consider the attractions of a healthcare estates and facilities career, but when good engineers do join a hospital’s Estates team, there is a danger that, having gained excellent training, they will be lured away by another public sector organisation, or a private sector employer, offering higher pay and less responsibility. IHEEM – alongside other professional institutes – is working hard to attract new engineers to the profession. While the overarching goal is effective succession planning for estates and facilities teams UK-wide, the Institute’s President, Ian Hinitt, and CEO, Peter Sellars, have made Diversity and Inclusion an especially high priority. In this first issue of 2020, HEJ reports on the first half of a roundtable discussion on the subject, held in London last November (see pages 25-28), where a group of seasoned estates and engineering professionals discussed not only what can be done to attract new blood, and a number of ‘alternative ways’ into engineering, but also some of the more challenging and difficult experiences of female engineers


COVER STORY


Track your inventory and get your MGPS under full control


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Neither the Institute nor the Publisher is able to take any responsibility for views expressed by contributors. Editorial views are not necessarily shared by the Institute. Readers are expressly advised that while the contents of this publication are believed to be accurate, correct and complete, no reliance should be placed upon its contents as being applicable to any particular circumstances. Any advice, opinion or information contained is published only on the footing that The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management, its servants or agents and all contributors to this publication shall be under no liability whatsoever in respect of its contents.


BeaconMedaes has introduced a new, ‘flexible’ software platform, MyMedGas., which it says enables users to access their MGPS ‘anytime, from anywhere’. This online solution consists of different modules, e.g. asset management, compliance, and service. The asset management module includes a detailed history log for each asset – starting from installation, all the way through replacement. BeaconMedæs added: “Additionally, it will help you


monitor repairs and provide details on your last testing date. It replaces time-consuming spreadsheets, and users can use the platform to confirm the exact quantities, status, and locations, of all their equipment, and quickly view maintenance records and statuses.” The company added: “Our compliance module will support you in staying compliant with increasingly complex regulations. Customers can pass their audits easier, and have all their documents in one place, including the history of the machine


and maintenance records. The dashboard gives a high- level view on the status of the MGPS in your hospital. You can also visualise your documents, and add photos to them, while maintaining them in one place.


“The service module provides complete service support, including for emergency call-outs, annual planned preventative maintenance (PPM), maintenance plans, and 24/7 support.


“This is an outline of some


key modules our new online solution has to offer; for more information on what MyMedGas has to offer, contact us.”


BeaconMedæs Telford Crescent Staveley, Derbyshire S43 3PF United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 1246 474242 E: gbn.sales@beaconmedaes.com www.beaconmedaes.co.uk www.mymedgas.com


working in a still largely male-dominated field. They also considered comments and questions – mainly from women – in the audience at a Diversity & Inclusion session at October’s Healthcare Estates 2019 event, which were put in a ‘Comments box’ with the promise that they would be addressed subsequently. Issues raised ranged from being ‘passed over’ for training and promotion despite working as hard as their male counterparts, to being ignored by contractors when accompanied to site by a more junior male colleague, and concerns over the potential impact of taking maternity leave on their careers.


While all the participants sympathised with the common frustrations female engineers report, they also had plenty of positives to say on their own careers. It was widely agreed that it is strong leadership and a recognition of the values and skills of all staff that make for a fulfilling working environment, where it is not the employee’s gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity that matter, but rather their commitment, skills, attitude, and determination to get the job done.


Jonathan Baillie I Editor jonathanbaillie@stepcomms.com


January 2020 Health Estate Journal 5


health estate journal


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