INFRASTRUCTURE GARETH BRUNTON – MANAGING DIRECTOR, BENDER UK
Greater electricalsystem resilience in healthcare
Loss of electrical power can have major consequences for healthcare facilities, not just in the areas of critical care but across other key areas of a site. Providing resilient electrical infrastructure solutions to help achieve reliable electrical systems is therefore vital in healthcare facilities.
Creating a resilient and reliable electrical infrastructure to support the most critical ‘no fail’ areas within a health facility ideally requires a combination of the latest medical IT/IPS (isolated power supply) technology, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems and automatic changeover devices, and continuous residual current monitoring. These are the building blocks of
systemised solutions designed to ensure maximum availability of estate resources, plan maintenance, minimise costs and unplanned disruption, and to satisfy all statutory and regulatory standards while meeting the highest standards of good governance. Healthcare providers have a duty of
care to ensure that appropriate governance arrangements are in place and are managed effectively. The UK Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) series provides best practice engineering standards and policy to enable management of this duty of care. The current review and update of HTM 06-01 builds on the previous version by enabling users of the revised guidance to provide safer, more resilient electrical systems within their healthcare premises. This in turn supports the requirements of regulators and ensures a safe environment for patients and staff. Healthcare premises are dependent on electrical power supplies, not only to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for patients and staff, but also to give greater scope for treatment using sophisticated medical equipment at all levels of clinical and surgical care. Healthcare organisations should ensure that their electrical installation provides maximum reliability and integrity of supplies. Every effort must be made to reduce the probability of equipment failure due to loss of power. The HTM’s risk grading system
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consultation with the clinical end user to establish the specific risks within a particular room or ward before deciding on a specific category. Unlike the BS7671 standard, HTM 06-01 offers further guidance on IPS-UPS resilience in areas where it has been deemed appropriate to install them.
Why IT/IPS? The medical IT system or IPS is the backbone of a reliable power system in medical locations. IT system is the standard compliant term for unearthed systems – an isolated power supply or IPS. The IPS is a fundamental element in
The inside of an IT system panel.
reinforces the importance of continuity of supply for the whole site and helps to assess the level of consequence of a power failure; an increase in patient risk or business risk needs to have a corresponding increase in the integrity and resilience of the electrical distribution providing that service. HTM 06-01 guidance is designed to
assist hospital managers and engineers when planning new facilities. It is not intended to be absolute and it encourages
providing a safe and secure power supply within the patient environment. In particular it reduces the inherent shock hazard risk to the patient from medical electrical devices connected either externally or internally, and reduces the potential for power failure should a device develop an electrical earth fault. This must be in conjunction with a fully compliant, robust earthing installation within the patient environment. Without an IPS, a patient undergoing
invasive surgery is more vulnerable to micro-shock hazards because their natural resistance to an electrical current - the skin – is not in place to protect them. Moreover, the effects of anaesthesia mean a patient is unable to react when suffering micro-shocks and the hazard can be prolonged and more damaging.
Gareth Brunton
Gareth Brunton has been managing director of Bender UK since May 2016. He joined the business as a commissioning engineer in 2004, and has held a succession of roles. Gareth gained an electrical apprenticeship with VSEL (now BAE Systems) and worked for both British Steel and Kimberly Clark, prior to joining Bender UK.He has a degree in electrical engineering. Gareth has driven the growth of Bender UK’s healthcare portfolio and his in-depth knowledge of the requirements for critical power systems underpins his
recognition of the importance of safe, reliable and resilient systems in hospitals. He leads the application of Bender technology to benefit new and existing customers who cannot afford their power to fail.
IFHE DIGEST 2019
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