We are all unique, our differences - shaped by age, gender, ethnicity, and ability - make up our multi-faceted and interconnected world. Over the last two years Tarkett have been carrying out research to understand how our different human make-up affects us as we go through life in education, at work and in elder care. This research has helped create 'Human Conscious Design Principles'.

For communities, organisations, and businesses to truly thrive everyone in society needs to be able to flourish. Design has a pivotal role to play here; to create spaces that foster inclusivity is imperative and this presentation looks at several neurotypes, in particular ADHD, autism and dementia, their signs and symptoms and the effect a well-designed, inclusive environment can have on the individual.

Inclusive design celebrates the vast diversity of human experiences by putting people at the heart of the process from the start. But it’s not about designing to the common denominator, nor at the expense of creativity. The presentation looks at specific challenges and individual needs focussing on sensory processing, executive functioning, and emotional regulation. It then looks at how we can design for life highlighting key considerations for designing environments specifically with hypersensitivities and hyposensitivities in mind, as well as dementia.

Our presentation is a RIBA accredited CPD and with a virtual reality empathy platform to showcase a truly inclusive environment, the attendees will leave with a greater understanding of the mind, how to mend the built environment and what really matters when it comes to designing for neuro-inclusion.

Digital technologies in the form of smart built environment (BE) interventions, as well as the use of robots in environments for people with frailty, are constantly advancing. Their implementation so far is mainly limited to devices such as automatic vacuum cleaners, voice assistance or are used to support mainly exercise and companionship. Robotics aiming to support people with frailty are usually tested in laboratory settings without taking into account real BE considerations. By taking into account the physical barriers one meets in a real residential setting and how this could affect the robot-frail people cohabitation, this research project could further support digital innovation industry in reaching their potential, while in parallel people in need could be benefited by living a more independent life at their own space.

The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to support the creation of guidelines for human-robot co-habitation in residential and care BEs for people with frailty. It brings together expertise from healthcare architecture and BE, human-computer interaction, population health and clinical practice. Methodology includes focus groups with health professionals, architectural auditing of frail people’s residential BE, simulation of robot suitability within the frail persons residential BE and trial testing of selected robots for comparison with simulated data. By observing the physical factors of the robot movements and interaction needs with the resident, the project aims to uncover requirements that identify how cohabitation creates accessibility limitations from the technological perspective.

A pilot has already taken place at independent living for long-term care for frailty, where architectural data was collected. This fed into the creation of 3d models of the inside of real built environment settings. The testing of a variety of robots performing predetermined tasks – as determined by data collected from focus groups and interviews conducted - within these virtual environments and their efficacy, is currently in progress.

Findings from these simulations will support the design of a unified framework on people with frailty-robot co-habitation, by taking into account the needs of the user, the robot characteristics but also the residential and care BE parameters as well. This will be the first stage to a formal framework on designing residential BEs for people with frailty which will take into consideration a whole new set of advantages for its users.

This paper draws on my doctoral research titled Infrastructure is More than Material, which considers the impact of infrastructure on society and is concerned with human interaction with infrastructure. The research reflects critically on many years working as an engineer delivering projects in ports and transport, water and sanitation, education and health in post-apartheid South Africa.
My argument is influenced by the growing body of interdisciplinary work in the fields of infrastructure and science studies in the humanities and considers the question of post-apartheid infrastructures’ legacies. As Zannah Matson argues in her review of the edited monograph The Promise of Infrastructure, infrastructure (and its promise) structures our relationship to the future and allows us to think ‘alongside the unfinished and interrupted forms that infrastructures often take’.
My paper explores aspects of the unfinished using notions of human-centred design in public infrastructure and the importance of involving the ‘users’ and ‘beneficiaries’ in infrastructure development and delivery. Infrastructure has a profound impact on society, socially and economically, and has been promised as an effective driver of economic growth. Yet depending how it is delivered, the infrastructure capital spent can produce significant human and social assets, in addition to the physical facilities.
Increasingly in South Africa we are seeing facilities fall into disrepair. We see infrastructure that is not used as intended, that doesn’t provide the socio-economic benefits that were intended. For example, a power system that only provides intermittent electricity to businesses severely limits the economy. We see vandalism to socioeconomic infrastructure and in the past schools damaged in protest action.
How do factors such as governance and funding models, design considerations, project implementation methodologies, operational and maintenance policies affect the promise of infrastructural change and facility longevity?

1. How to save energy through real time monitoring systems in MGPS.
2. How to save energy through control with AI technology in MGPS.
3. How the integration of machine and drives lead to saving energy in the Medical Gas world.

An overview of the recently published Stride Treglown guide to designing for health and wellbeing, developed in conjunction with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. In this presentation, we will explore how this guide takes a preventative approach to health and wellbeing and how it can be applied to the development of hospital masterplans.

Amid considerable resource pressures, and ambitious sustainability targets, sustainable waste management stands out as both a key opportunity as well as a formidable challenge for NHS Trusts.

This presentation outlines practical steps for NHS Trusts to effectively meet sustainability targets while realising cost savings, drawing on a strategy of efficiency through rationalisation, innovative practice, and technology.

The presentation will explore strategies focused on:

1. Holistic Efficiency Overhaul: Encouraging a shift from conventional waste management methods. Identify practical, innovative practices that streamline operations, increase waste segregation, and reduce costs, focusing on sustainable approaches.
2. Sustainability at its Core: Integrate environmental best practices into daily operations through auditing and behavioural change programs. Encourage Trusts to set realistic recycling targets aligned with national sustainability goals. Adopt waste management technologies that enhance efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
3. Strategic Positioning in Healthcare Innovation: Embrace innovation not just for operational efficiency but as a driver for sustainability. Trusts can adopt state-of-the-art waste management solutions, positioning themselves as adopters of progressive healthcare practices, utilising generated waste as a valuable resource and asset.

We know how to design clinically excellent models of care, and we know how to design amazing space and engineer truly magnificent buildings.  But we are overwhelmed with policy, guidance, information and targets about sustainable design, placemaking and the development of healing space meaning that sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bath water.

This brief workshop will discuss what excellence means and how to ensure successful capital projects that:

• - meet the strategic brief for healthcare delivery
• - embrace sustainability, NZC and the digital agenda
• - engineer value from the get-go
• - deliver value for money
• - achieve the critical success factors across disciplines

This presentation will explore the transformative impact of AI on NHS healthcare estates, emphasising how AI can streamline operations, enhance collaboration, and facilitate the instant sharing of best practices and insights. Attendees will be introduced to innex.ai, an innovative platform developed through four years of collaborative research at the University of Cambridge and in partnership with IHEEM and various NHS Trusts. The session will highlight how AI not only optimises operations but also bolsters collaboration and provides instant access to best practices and insights. Discover how innex.ai equips EFM staff with immediate, actionable information, fostering enhanced decision-making and promoting a culture of knowledge sharing among peers.

Cancer care and treatment is rapidly advancing. New technologies, medicines and treatment regimens are being developed all the time. This means that specialist cancer care facilities need to be able to adapt and respond to these developments, ensuring that they can continue providing the latest and most advanced treatments to patients, long into a building’s lifespan.

The new Veilndre Cancer Centre (nVCC) will include nine Linear Accelerator bunkers, designed to accommodate not only the “day one” technology, but future technologies including three MR LINACs and higher energies. The client, design team and contractor, are working closely together to ensure required flexible capacity is met. There is inherent flexibility to the planning of the department through building the bunkers at ground level, with wide spans, access to the exterior for servicing (as well as daylight) and providing areas of soft space adjacent to and above the treatment rooms.

Features of the design to ensure flexibility include:
- areas of increased shielding than strictly required for day one.
- knock out panels to allow for installation of MR LINAC magnet and static ring.
- services routed and planned for day one and future scenarios – focussing on planned transformation rather than demolition and disruption.
- individual AHUs per bunker to prevent a single point of failure, minimising interruptions, or delays to treatment.
All the while, maximising daylight with pleasant waiting spaces on the façade and roof lights at maze entrances, and use of natural materials throughout.

The nVCC is being designed to serve current patient throughput as well as projected requirements and to be able to expand services and modalities in the future without replanning, additional shielding or rerouting services that would cause extensive disruption to on-going treatment provision. Additionally, the three bunkers earmarked for MR LINACs are located such that most of the department and patient areas would not need to be shut down or treatment paused during the installation. Designing for future flexibility is possible, but the required flexibility needs to be defined and considered holistically for the most efficient result.

A practical case study exploring the process of working with your local authority to include healthcare investment plans in general, and healthcare needs linked to housing growth, in your local Town Planning documentation.

Discussion of how this work is critical to support NHS accessing funds from sec106 and CIL.
Several practical case studies of small scale development and refurbishment schemes in primary and community care settings. This includes discussion of the multiple sources of funding (capital grants, sec106, recycled NHS Property Services capital and commissioner and provider revenue) which are required to get small or large schemes delivered.

Benefits:
• Understanding the potential sec106 funding available from housing growth
• Practical tips on how to use freely available SHAPE tool to map health facilities and housing growth
• Building partnerships with local authority planning teams
• Increased primary care capacity
• Maximising the use of sites and minimising capital costs
• Supports strategy for neighbourhood delivery"

The Government has approved one the most significant programmes of capital investment in healthcare facilities for decades, the New Hospitals Programme. Central to this investment is the drive to harness emerging hospital design, developments in medical technology, the digitisation of process, modern construction techniques and robust plans to achieve net zero carbon. Equipment plays a critical part in the delivery of patient care, the wider hospital and patient experience, and increasingly, a recognised importance in supporting Trust’s to effectively manage their buildings to support national ambitions to reach net zero.

The days of standalone medical equipment is quickly transitioning to an era of connected technology with a growing ambition for data collection, transmission, integration and storage. Modern medical devices are increasingly being developed to integrate with Electronic Patient Records or use middleware to generate alerts to be sent to smart phones and digital white boards to escalate responses to a patient in deteriorating condition.

Equipping for the future will require a stronger alliance between Medical Engineering and IT departments working in partnership with clinical teams to select new or replacement technology. Our equipment selection should fit with:
• The hospital digital strategy, in terms of network connectivity and interface with standardised Trust software such as EPR
• Local cyber security and information governance standards.
• Network and storage capacity within the planned digital infrastructure.
• Energy consumption and Net Zero
• The local strategic equipment replacement program

This presentation is unique in taking a complex agenda of how Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust starts to plan the delivery of the vision for digitised, sustainable modern healthcare facilities, but from an equipment lens which can often be an after-thought in hospital developments in an environment where there is a tendency to primarily focus on architecture and engineering and where there are pressures on capital budgets and value and cost reduction strategies have been applied.

It will explore the benefits of an equipment strategy, key procurement decisions and benefits of transferring existing equipment.

Lithium-Ion Battery Fires - the Dos and Don’ts!  This session will delve into the challenges associated with these types of fires and you will gain valuable insights into why they happen and how to prevent.

The healthcare industry is seeing a radical shift towards resilience, efficiency, and sustainability. A critical pathway to future-proof estates lies in transforming to an all-digital, all-electric infrastructure. Electrification and digitisation can revolutionise healthcare facilities, ensuring they are capable of meeting today’s challenges while being adaptable for tomorrow’s uncertainties.

This presentation outlines how this can be done using a comprehensive electrical digital twin. It will delve into how these technologies can enhance operational efficiency, patient safety, and satisfaction while significantly reducing carbon emissions.

The presentation looks at how Lean Thinking principles are applied to Construction projects in Japan, enabling faster and cheaper project deliveries; examines how collaborations simplifies the construction process and leading to higher quality; and how to identify wasted efforts and processes that generates little value but clogging up the Project Management System.

The presentation also explore the Lean management thinking and philosophy in the Quality Function Deployment of project management

Delivering vital new health infrastructure with local authority partners - the Dartmouth Health and Wellbeing Centre story.

Whilst projects that see joint working between Council and NHS Trusts do happen, they’re not the norm. But why not?

In this session Caroline Cozens, Director of Capital at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Hugh Robinson, Director at gbpartnerships (the Trust’s Strategic Estates Partner) explore the lessons learned from the £5m Dartmouth Health and Wellbeing Centre - a project delivered in Partnership with South Hams District Council.

The project saw the transformation of an underutilised Council owned overflow car-park into a state-of-the-art health hub using a novel commercial approach.

The Health and Care Act 2022 established the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), as a fully independent arm’s-length body from October 2023. We investigate patient safety concerns across the NHS in England and in independent healthcare settings where safety learning could also help to improve NHS care.

Our investigations aim to reduce patient harm by:
Supporting the involvement of patients, families and carers in healthcare.
Supporting healthcare staff to carry out their roles and care for patients safely.
Creating safer healthcare environments and processes.
Making healthcare services more efficient.
Sharing best practice and innovations in patient care.

With the diversity and experience embedded in our team from both within the NHS and from other safety critical industries, a unique mix of clinical and non-clinical input to every investigation which allows new perspectives to be generated.

Our investigations spanned from Insertion of Wrong prothesis to Healthcare provision in prisons and from Decontamination of surgical instruments to Design of the paediatric ward.

Investigations can be daunting to many as the feel this is inspecting and questioning their specific role or actions they have taken. However, there is nothing to fear. The benefit of taking a no blame approach and apportioning no liability allows learning to be shared in a positive manner.
This presentation aims to share how HSSIB undertake investigations, what our approach is, how you could be involved, how patients and families are involved. We will be using our recent investigations to highlight how we interact with everyone involved.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is planning a once-in-a-generation scheme to build a new hospital as part of the Government’s New Hospitals Programme. The Trust’s new hospital programme, Building the Leeds Way, highlights how digital infrastructure and technologies can be effectively implemented into new and retained estates.

There are several key issues that are impacting the estates and facilities profession when implementing digital technologies. Whilst the selection and integration of individual products that make up the overall solution is extremely important, gaining Trust staff buy-in and adoption is critical in implementing any solution. Recognising the solution should be co-developed with the estates and facilities (instead of being dictated by the digital team), and that any new build is likely to form part of a much wider estate portfolio (the new elements typically represent less than 20% of the overall estate) enables constructive discussions around how the wider Trust portfolio must be modernised and digitalised.

Whilst Hospital 2.0 standards align to the industry vision of creating a flexible digital hospital, ensuring where possible the needs of the current estate are considered in the design and implementation of data standards and digital technologies for new buildings are paramount. The timeline for when the new hospitals will be available is uncertain, so waiting for the new facilities to address challenges of today does not align to the Trust’s ambitions and wider roadmaps. Phasing the implementation of standards and solutions across the estate so that most of the change has already been experienced by staff ahead of habiting the new hospital enables smooth transition.

It is noted that the implementation of digital change into the existing estate may not entirely be possible, due to either physical constraints of the building or the ability to add capacity to existing infrastructure, but generally change can occur. Where it may not be blue sky change, roadmaps can be created and followed that narrows the gap for both technology and staff technical competence between the current state and digital utopia.

The use of ultra clean air operating theatres was pioneered in the UK by Professor Sir John Charnley during the development of total hip replacement. When conventional operating theatres were replaced with ultra clean theatres there were dramatic reductions in infection rates. Although much has changed in the subsequent 50 years the basic conclusion that prevention of infection is better than cure remains valid.

We have and taken detailed 3-D and anemometry measurements of airflow in an ultra clean theatre and, working with the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham and other international collaborators we have produced an highly detailed Computational Fluid Dynamic model of one of the theatres at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham. This model enables particle tracking experiments to be carried out, which have identified what best practice looks like in this type of theatre.

In the present environment reducing energy consumption and avoiding waste of materials is of vital importance, however changes in practice need to be supported by robust evidence that microbiological safety will be maintained. The human cost of infected joint replacements, the energy cost and financial costs will be discussed. The potential problems of replacing single use plastics with reusable items will be reviewed.

Methods of measuring infection rates in joint replacements using the National Joint Registry and the UKHSA infection surveillance systems are both valuable, but there are inconsistencies in their outcomes. In the UK and elsewhere it is not routine to test the microbiology of operating theatres whilst they are in use. This stands in sharp contrast to pharmaceutical production facilities where millions of microbiology plates are used every year to monitor the environment. This approach is now changing with pilot studies and an ongoing national audit, which are designed to produce quality improvements in this area.

The National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) will provide clinical, physical, and mental rehabilitation facilities for those who have suffered brain or physical trauma. The project will contribute to patient wellbeing and facilitate their recovery in a world class facility. The NRC will be a national resource for learning and healthcare which is underpinned by the partnership between the Nottinghamshire University Hospital Trust, University of Nottingham, Loughborough University and the Ministry of Defence.

How innovation and technology in offsite construction methodologies ensures sustainability in healthcare facility design.

Merit will organise and participate in a panel discussion, focusing on how advanced technology adoption within offsite construction methodologies can progress innovation in sustainability for the healthcare facility design.

Merit is the UK’s leading industrialised construction and digital manufacturing specialist, delivering high-quality, technically complex facilities for the healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals sectors in a third of the time compared to traditional methods of construction. Placing innovation, technology and sustainability at its core, Merit provides BREEAM Excellent, Zero Scope 1 Carbon in operation enabled facilities fast.

Hear key industry insights from sector professionals including:
- Tony Wells, CEO at Merit
- Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust – contact tbc.
- KLH Sustainability – contact tbc.

Merit kick-started 2024 with the announcement that it had been appointed by Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust to design and deliver its new therapy-led reablement unit on site at Norwich Community Hospital. The project, which utilises advanced offsite construction methods, will be completed in only 5 months.

Furthermore, Merit works closely and collaboratively with its sustainability consultant, KLH Sustainability, to provide full carbon assessment evaluations for all its projects.

The NHS has ambitious Net Zero targets, learn more from this panel discussion about what sustainability practices are vitally important to NHS Trust’s when considering the design of their healthcare facility, and hear more about where offsite construction and digital innovation fits into this.

Learn more about the key challenges facing the industry in adopting digital technologies and how the offsite construction industry provides solutions to overcome these challenges.

Understand how current offsite construction methodologies align with broader sustainability goals, contributing to both a greener healthcare and construction industry.

Today we see rapid developments in technology, new legislation increasing the pressure to reduce emissions whilst \at the same time budgets either reducing or failing to keep pace with increasing costs and requirements The HTM (Health Technical Memoranda) have been in place for many years and are regularly reviewed and up dated. The pace of technological and legislative change can though leave some aspects of the HTM’s looking a little left behind. This presentation considers just three areas of how the standby generation part of HMT-06 has been left behind and hence how it could be quickly updated.
This presentation will look at
• Setting the scene
• Emissions
o Medium Combustion Plant Directive and local requirements
o Catalytic Converters
o Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF)
o Selective Catalytic Convertors
• How newer and cleaner engines change this landscape set in the context of
o Rating / sizing of generating sets
o First set load acceptance
o The various types of load used in a modern healthcare setting
• Resetting the dial on site testing of generating sets
• Aligning HTM’s directly with ISO and other standards

With the ever-changing landscape of the healthcare environment, facilities professionals play a pivotal role in sustaining a high-quality service. Their responsibilities encompass a range of tasks that contribute to the smooth operation of the healthcare facilities and the overall well-being of staff and patients.

Panellists in this session are:

Paul Kaye, Director - Quiq Solutions Ltd

Scott Hislop, Deputy Dir. of Investigations - HSSIB

Panellists in this session are:

Carl-Magnus von Behr, CEO - inex.ai

Magnus Leask, Director - Hoare Lea

Laura Harrop, Project Manager - Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust

Panellists in this session are:

Emma Clyne, Principal Category Manager- NHS Shared Business Services

Henry Loo, Capital Project Manager- Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust

Panellists for this session are:

Giles Hartley, Equipment Project Manager- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Panellists in this session are:

Karina Dare, Primary Care Strategy Lead- NHS Property Services

Caroline Cozens, Director of Capital- Torbay & South Devon NHS FT

Hugh Robinson, Group Business Development Director