FACILITIES/PLANT MANAGEMENT
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Authorisation
Authorising engineers in the healthcare engineering and estates and facilities management (EFM) sector
must gain registration from the professional body, The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate
Management (IHEEM). The quali cation holds signi cance for both the individual and the industry
Authorising engineers are
By Tom Austin-Morgan
responsible for implementing
professional guidance
in various engineering
disciplines including
decontamination, medical gas, water and
electrical systems, ventilation and medical
devices. The Institute of Healthcare
Engineering & Estates Management
(IHEEM) has developed AE Registers for
healthcare engineers who carry out these
important roles.
The organisation’s CEO, Pete Sellars,
says: “IHEEM contributed to a national
investigation into the supply of oxygen
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, by the Healthcare Safety
Investigation Branch
(HSIB), sets out the
challenge to the
NHS to ensure that it
appoints people who
are properly accredited,
in terms of their skill base,
to undertake these services
and to provide the professional
expertise particularly around patient
safety and the governance and risk of
managing these complex services.”
The title ‘IHEEM Authorising
Engineer’ is a professional registration
developed by IHEEM. That ensures
that the people who operate under
this title have been through a rigorous
peer-reviewed process to
obtain registration, says
Sellars. The route to
accreditation is assessed
through the academic
and professional
experience applicants
have gained during their
careers while undertaking
their duties.
IHEEM is a professional
membership organisation specialising
in the healthcare estates sector. It is
licenced by the Engineering Council to
support individuals achieving CEng, IEng
or EngTech status (as is SOE). It is said
to be the largest UK professional body
dedicated to research, education and the
professional development of healthcare
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