How engineers could help to cure NHS maladies
Ben Marshall comments on how the NHS uses engineers (Letters, PE February). The biggest engineering impact comes from those of us who maintain and operate the facilities in which most of the NHS functions.
The NHS clinicians cannot function effectively without heat, light, power, water, ventilation, medical gases and sterilisation, to name a few – many services must stand up to more rigorous specification than general domestic and industrial standards. Cuts and under-investment for years in these “invisible” non-clinical aspects, plus not adequately capturing experience from maintenance into new designs, certainly contributes to large and unnecessary costs to the NHS.
The technological rise in medicine increases the need for biomedical engineers, although they frequently fall under the medical physics departments rather than estates and engineering.
The NHS England engineering central services capability appears all but gone, with trusts “on their own”. Surely this is an opportunity for the IMechE, the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management, and other engineering bodies to step into the void? NHS Scotland has Health Facilities Scotland to assist NHS boards with a range of collaborative engineering, environment and energy services expertise.
Beware the hazards of “one size fits all” and “reorganisations” – the diversity and range in the NHS estate and its operation is staggering. Remember that “form follows function”.
Size also matters; in some cases, large scale brings benefit and in others sclerosis, frustration and loss of commitment. It is the wisdom to know when large scale or small/flexible approaches are best, and trusting the engineers on the ground to contribute to selecting the best ways forward, which is undervalued.
Engineers have much more to contribute than most clinicians and senior managers realise – we need to help them see it.
A preoccupation with the clinical services, while ignoring, undervaluing and cutting engineering and support services, has contributed significantly to the NHS plight.
Look for where the power lies – a lack of systems thinking, not proportionately aligning power with responsibility, and not devolving decision making and responsibility down to the lowest possible level by those with historic hierarchical power, impedes service improvement by engineers and many other staff groups.
Paul Hogg, Glasgow
Untapped power potential
In response to the letter from Bryan Leyland (PE February), unless things are different down under, tidal-stream turbines in the northern hemisphere do not convert the gravitational potential energy of sea-level fluctuations into electrical energy. They convert only the kinetic energy embodied in the billions of tonnes of sea water induced to flow around coastlines by the presence of our moon.
Corrosion and encrustation of subsea structures is daily controlled by impressed current cathodic protection, metallic coatings and chemical films on shipping.
The real bonus of tidal stream is due to the sheer energy density contained in each tonne of moving water – and the natural phasing of output when generators are dispersed along a coastline.
But, like wind generation, some of this free kinetic energy must remain in the exhaust stream. But each cubic meter of water in only a 5kt current is still carrying nearly 3.25MW of power!
G D Johnston, Shrewsbury
Defence wastes millions
The article on unmanned defence developments (“Robots go to war,” PE February) appeared at the same time as an article in The Times purporting to expose the vast amounts of money being wasted on defective defence equipment, from drones to naval vessels.
It would be interesting to read the views of engineers employed in the defence industries as to why malfunctioning equipment, overdue and over-cost acquisitions, and wrongly specified projects, appear to be so prevalent.
We do not read of such monumental errors in other countries’ defence procurement activities. What goes on in the UK?
R Bullen, Chepstow, Monmouthshire
Career opportunities lacking
An anonymous correspondent writes that it is “inequality” that drives her to leave the profession (Letters, PE January).
Perhaps she hasn’t realised that the reasons she is looking to move out of the profession also apply to most working in engineering, regardless of sex. It’s a profession where career opportunity and continuing professional development are thin on the ground. This is the UK, not Germany or China.
Paul Evans, Somerset
Give graduates a chance
As a recently graduated mechanical and medical engineer, I find it infuriating to read articles bemoaning the skills shortage, and the seemingly incomprehensible decision many engineering graduates make to choose other sectors, rather than pursue a career in manufacturing. The reason is simple: opportunity.
Other sectors are simply better at providing opportunities for graduates. I’ve spent the last three-and-a-half months looking for a graduate position in engineering. Every job posting, even for junior or graduate advertised roles, requires a minimum of two years’ industrial experience. How are graduates to gain this experience if employers won’t give them a chance to?
Other sectors such as banking, computer science and even retail are more than willing to take on engineering graduates, without industry experience. Of the 2013-14 cohort of graduate engineers, only 55.6% went into an engineering occupation. With first-hand experience, I am telling you I am not the least bit surprised.
I have a first-class honours degree and I have experience working in a research environment as well as some (but not two years’) experience in industry. What I may lack in experience, I make up for in passion, as do many other graduates.
Jason Green, Hampshire
Pioneering solution
I read with interest and a certain amount of amusement the article “Cool data” about the development of liquid cooling for the Telehouse North Two data centre (PE January).
As an 18-year-old engineer-to-be, in 1956 I was working at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. As part of our work we were exposed to two of the largest computers of the day, Ace and Deuce. Programming and data input was via the Hollerith punched-card system and physically these pieces of kit were most impressive.
Ace in particular was laid out in nine banks radially on a semicircle. Glowing thyristors stood 3ft tall amongst many other valves, each in themselves an impressive piece of work.
At the end of each bank was a Riley 9 car radiator. Water was pumped round the chassis to, guess what, cool it.
Pat Morris, Sevenoaks, Kent
Convoys could cut congestion
In response to the 8 Questions survey on autonomous cars, there is a lot of congestion caused by driver behaviour (PE February).
Human reaction times can cause a backwards travelling wave. The first driver to respond to an event on the road brakes, the person behind, due to reaction time, brakes a fraction of a second later and has to brake a little harder to avoid hitting the person in front, the person behind them has to brake harder still, and somewhere down the backward wave the traffic comes to a complete halt. This is the reason for delays caused by “sheer weight of traffic”.
There is an interesting article covering this called “Traffic jam mystery solved by mathematicians” on phys.org.
Autonomous vehicles reduce this by having much improved reaction times and carefully calculating the braking force required given the distance to, and speed of, the vehicle in front. These precise calculations are beyond humans.
This can be applied to the creation of an efficient train of vehicles moving in convoy on highways, with very little distance between them. The possibility of communication between autonomous vehicles can further improve their performance and reduce congestion still further.
Graham King, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Small firms need answers
The report on the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMITE) University has prompted me to share observations on the concept (“Radical reform,” PE January). These are based on my experience of managing a project based in a university aimed at improving regional economic performance in engineering industries.
I employed specialist engineers from industry to provide advice to small firms to improve their performance through adopting relevant ICT techniques. Through my team’s focus on firms’ needs we were successful, and our academic colleagues at the university wanted to share our contacts to promote what the university could offer.
Many potential projects were identified, but none materialised because certain academics were not prepared to add extra workload without a consultancy fee. The main stumbling block was timing. A small firm with a project wanted immediate support to resolve the issue, whereas the academics had only certain times in the year when the syllabus allowed for project work. Small firms recognising a need for a project need a prompt resolution.
Larger organisations may have different timescales and have projects that they can defer, but they won’t be imperative. They may offer projects for the PR rather than the intellectual challenge.
The resource needed to understand an industrial requirement, and translate that into a learning vehicle, whilst delivering an economic good outcome should not be under-estimated.
I think the strategic intent of NMITE is excellent. I just hope the practicalities are managed effectively.
Brian Burgess, North Duffield, North Yorkshire
Problematic payback
In response to the news story on the Moixa smart battery project in Yorkshire, I have a 3kW (peak) installation on my house roof and have given some thought to the prospect of adding a battery storage system (PE February).
However, owing to the uncertainty of it ever paying back the outlay I have not pursued the matter further. The crux of the matter, for an individual home owner, is the short guarantee period offered by suppliers and installers.
The project reported sounds interesting, but it doesn’t say anything about how financial or contractual arrangements are to be made with the home owners whose photovoltaic installations are to be linked into the system. This could be a stumbling block for wider application.
Patrick Wilson, Great Glemham, Suffolk
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