Two days that could change the way you work

Collaboration will be the single most important factor in achieving the objectives within the Carter programme and the sustainability and transformation plan (STP) process.

The £1.2bn target of productivity and efficiency savings for Estates and Facilities Management (EFM) services detailed within the Lord Carter productivity and efficiency programme will be a tough one to achieve. These, along with the emerging national STP’s, means a clear focus on ‘doing something different’ in the years to come. Combine these two programmes with an NHS that has seen unprecedented levels of activity during 2016, and in the first few weeks of 2017, and it gives a clear indication of the challenging balance to be had in meeting both the financial and quality targets whilst delivering a safe and effective service’.

Healthcare Estates conference and exhibition will be discussing how the NHS has risen to the challenge of year-on-year cost improvement plans, how to deliver the additional efficiency savings up to 2020 and examples of different approaches by trusts and suppliers.

The demands of innovation, integration and collaboration are already being addressed by conference organisers IHEEM (Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management). They have been working with the Department of Health (DH) Estates and Facilities team since late 2015 and throughout 2016, and, together with HefmA were requested by the DH through a clear ‘Terms of Reference’ document to engage the EFM profession across all NHS trusts in delivering the productivity and efficiency programme.

This interesting, and innovative, approach by the DH to directly engage the EFM profession, through IHEEM and HefmA, hands the challenge of delivering those efficiencies back to the profession. The estates and facilities benchmark ‘dashboards’ issued by the department, produced from a combination of ERIC (Estates Return Information Collection) and other data, clearly demonstrate to all 136 acute trusts their relative productivity and efficiency across their estates and facilities services. The dashboards, benchmarked against the Adjusted Treatment Cost (now the Weighted Activity Unit) and the emergence of the ‘Model Hospital Portal’, give a realistic indication of performance and it is with these benchmark tools that trusts have embarked upon their plans to deliver these efficiencies by 2020.

Throughout 2016 IHEEM and HefmA have been proactive, delivering with the DH a number of workshops and seminars to launch the productivity and efficiency programme, share best practice and case studies between trusts and give help, support and advice to those with significant efficiency savings targets.  They will report on the outcome of these at Healthcare Estates in October.

Collaboration and shared services is the key

Collaboration will be the single most important factor in achieving the objectives within the Carter programme and the STP process. The EFM profession within the NHS must come together as never before, sharing best practice and networking at every level with every trust.

Healthcare Estates offers a unique opportunity for trusts across the UK to come together and discuss what is required, issues and solutions.

Already we are seeing some EFM departments of trusts amalgamate to offer regional shared services, and potentially form joint venture companies with other public or private bodies to deliver estates and facilities services. Other trusts will seek to share professional and technical leads or collaborate in procurement processes for outsourcing of FM services to achieve greater ‘buying power’ within the marketplace. Collaboration is the ‘name of the game’. Acute trusts will need to work with other neighbouring acute, mental health and community trusts and colleagues within the EFM profession, as part of both the Carter programme and the STP process in achieving the required efficiencies.

IHEEM, working with its partnering associations, will continue to assist the DH, as requested, in delivering the Carter productivity and efficiency programme through the use of sharing best practice and case studies, verifying ERIC data, providing training events through the year and developing information for the Model Hospital Portal. The DH has itself taken a key innovative step in handing the challenge back to the estates and facilities profession through to 2020, and it is a challenge that IHEEM is prepared for.

Healthcare Estates is regarded as the leading healthcare event for those involved with the estates, engineering and facilities of hospitals will follow up on last years address by Lord Carter on the developments in the industry and targets set.

Victoria Emerton, Conference Director for the event said, “this years conference will offer a wealth of examples of collaboration following on from last years conference theme. We are also going to offering a raft of different packages making the conference more affordable for all, details will be announced in next months HEJ magazine.

The Healthcare Estates Exhibition & Conference takes place on the 10^th & 11^th October and will have a different feel with even more interactive sessions. We will be changing the format slightly as delegate numbers have grown in excess of 500 and feedback from those attending is they like ‘real examples’ of delivery and interactive workshops.

By visiting the exhibition visitors will see more manufacturers, suppliers, products, services and special offers, all in one place. The organisers, Step Exhibitions will also provide more meeting and networking areas to encourage visitors and delegates to sit down and share their experiences and issues and discover solutions together with examples from speakers on what can be achieved.

Details can be found on the event web site at www.healthcare-estates.com