We’re proud to be Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust’s fire safety partner
Midland Fire has been a trusted fire safety partner to Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for almost eight years now, supporting the Trust with reliable, future-focused fire protection across all its sites.
Most recently, our fire safety team completed a full fire alarm system upgrade project for the Trust. We worked in each of their buildings, from hospitals to health centres, to design and install updated Gent fire alarm systems.
This was a significant investment for the Trust, with the aim of improving safety at all their locations, helping best protect their patients, staff and visitors. The Gent Vigilon Fire Alarm System upgrade also provides greater consistency across their portfolio, making their fire safety systems easier to manage and maintain in the long run.
This project has also laid the groundwork for a future fire alarm network upgrade, in which The Trust are potentially looking to install Gent CLSS Gateways across their portfolio of sites. This addition of cloud-connected technology would further aid with maintenance compliance through automated testing records, and advanced system data would be sent to one central location for easier system management.
I have found Thomas Sleath and the team at Midland Fire to be professional, responsive and supportive in their work with Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. They have developed a good understanding of the complexities of our estate and have worked closely with us on fire alarm upgrades, maintenance and ongoing requirements.
Their practical approach and willingness to work collaboratively with our Estates team have been particularly valuable in helping us manage fire safety across a diverse range of healthcare buildings.
Matthew Watson, Compliance Manager @ Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC)
Operating across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area, the Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides a wide range of integrated specialist health services. The Trust and its 5,000 staff are dedicated to delivering the best possible care, and to helping build healthier local communities.
BCHC delivers services in a wide range of settings, from GP surgeries to community and day hospitals, and they also host services in their own properties. It’s across these properties that Midland Fire works, helping to protect the important services that BCHC provides.
Fire alarm system upgrade across the BCHC portfolio
The project
For this project, our team worked across the Trust’s entire property portfolio to upgrade each fire alarm system to modern Gent technology.
At each of their healthcare settings, we followed the below process:
- Comprehensive assessment of each building’s layout and fire safety needs, as well as a review of their existing fire protection equipment.
- Improved system design, incorporating modern Gent technology and updated components and safety features, and allowing for improved integration with other life safety systems.
- Installation of new equipment, including the removal of outdated components, all while minimising disruption to staff and patients.
- Commissioning to ensure all equipment was correctly configured, operating effectively and ready for use.
- Testing of all fire alarm systems, devices and interfaces to confirm performance, reliability and compliance with relevant standards.
- Completion of a detailed handover, providing the Trust and each setting with full system information and training guidance.
The challenges
Working in live and occupied healthcare environments comes with its challenges. For this project, our team often had to work around vulnerable patients and busy staff whose work didn’t stop when we were around.
Luckily, our engineers are highly experienced working in busy public spaces and healthcare settings, and we take extra care to ensure patients aren’t disturbed. Our work was planned around the day-to-day routines of each setting we worked in for the BCHC, and risk assessments and enhanced DBS checks were completed before any work took place.
Asbestos can also be a problem when working in some of the Trust’s older buildings. To ensure the safety of everyone, our team checked the Asbestos Registers prior to the project starting.
The result
This upgrade project has been a successful continuation of our work for the Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, completed on time and within budget. Each of the Trust’s properties is now fully equipped with a modern and reliable new fire alarm system, helping protect everyone who comes through their doors.
As mentioned, we are now in advance talks for the possibility of deploying Gent CLSS Gateways across their sites, which will further improve safety and compliance for the Trust, and continue to strengthen our ongoing partnership.
We’re proud of the strong partnership we’ve built with Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust over the past eight years, and it’s fantastic to see this latest upgrade project completed successfully.
Standardising fire alarm systems across every site is a significant achievement, and we’re excited about the opportunity to support the Trust with the next phase through the potential rollout of Gent CLSS Gateways, helping to deliver even greater visibility, compliance and long-term fire safety across the estate.
Thomas Sleath, Business Development Manager @ Midland Fire
Gent CLSS Gateway technology explained
With our next steps for the Trust in mind, here’s a short overview of Gent Gateway technology and its benefits.
The Gent CLSS (Connected Life Safety Services) Gateway is a device that connects a Gent fire alarm system to a secure cloud-based platform, allowing important system information to be accessed remotely. This includes system status, events, faults and maintenance records.
The gateway collects this data from the fire alarm panel and securely shares it with the CLSS platform. Multiple Gent fire alarm systems across different locations can be connected to a single central hub, which is the idea for the Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust.
Benefits of using this technology include:
- Centralised visibility across multiple sites for better oversight.
- Real-time access to system information.
- Improved fault monitoring and response.
- More efficient maintenance management.
- Enhanced compliance.
- Early identification of potential issues.
Looking for fire alarm system installation and maintenance in the Midlands?
We provide fire risk assessments and fire safety services in Birmingham as well as the surrounding cities, towns and villages across the Midlands, for both domestic and commercial settings.
At Midland Fire, we’ll work with you to plan and deliver the optimum life safety solution for your premises, including ongoing maintenance, support and fire safety training.
At Midland Fire WE PROTECT. For more information and a free consultation, contact Midland Fire Security Services Ltd.
