Skip to main content
Facilitate Magazine: Informing Workplace and Facilities Management Professionals - return to the homepage Facilitate magazine logo
  • Search
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @Facilitate_Mag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Logo of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
    • Comment
    • People
    • Reports
    • Research
  • Features
    • Analysis
    • Features
    • Round Tables
    • Webinars
  • Outsourcing
    • Contract Finder
    • Contracts
    • FM Business Models
    • Interviews
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Opinion
    • Procurement
    • Trends
  • Know-How
    • Explainers
    • Legal Updates
    • White Papers
  • Jobs
  • Topics
    • Workplace Services
      • Hospitality
      • Catering
      • Cleaning
      • Front of House
      • Grounds Maintenance
      • Helpdesk
      • Mailroom
      • Manned Guarding / Security
      • Pest Control
      • Washroom Services
      • Disaster Recovery
      • Specialist Services
    • Professional Performance
      • Behavioural Change
      • Continual Professional Development
      • Education
      • Management
      • Recruitment
      • Training
    • Workplace Performance
      • Benchmarking
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Operational Readiness
      • Procurement
      • Security
      • Workplace User Experience
      • Workplace Culture
    • Compliance
      • Health & Safety
      • Risk & Business Continuity
      • Standards
      • Statutory Compliance
    • Building Services
      • Architecture & Construction
      • Asset Management
      • Building Controls
      • Building Fabric
      • Drinking Water
      • Fire Protection
      • HVAC
      • Landscaping
      • Mechanical & Electrical
      • Building Security
      • Water, Drainage & Plumbing
    • Technology
      • Building Information Modelling
      • CAFM
      • Data & Networks
      • Document Management
      • Information Management
      • Internet of Things (IoT)
      • Software & Systems
    • Energy management
      • Energy Management Systems
      • Electricity
      • Gas
      • Solar
      • Wind
    • Sustainability
      • Environmental Quality
      • Social Value
      • Waste Management
      • Recycling
    • Workspace Design
      • Agile Working
      • Fit-Out & Refurbishment
      • Inclusive Access
      • Lighting
      • Office Interiors
      • Signage
      • Space Planning
      • Storage
      • Vehicle Management / Parking
      • Washroom
    • Sectors
      • Corporate Office
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Manufacturing
      • International
      • Retail
      • Sports & Leisure
      • Regions
  • Buyers' Guide
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Features
  • Features
Healthcare

What’s happening in healthcare?

Open-access content Tuesday 16th November 2021
Authors
Facilitate Team
web_Julian-Fris.png

Julian Fris

With the reforming of the Public Contracts Regulations, we will hopefully see the loosening of some of the shackles placed under procurement departments and organisations. 

Julian Fris, director at FM consultancy Neller Davies

Julian Fris, director at FM consultancy Neller Davies, shares his insight into FM’s changing role in the healthcare sector.

To what extent would you say the themes listed above are consistent with your experience of FM in the healthcare sector? 

FM can play an integral role in the patient experience – whether it’s through the controlling of environments, maintaining buildings to high standards so they are safe and clean, or even through the role it can play in helping patients recover through the food they consume. 

FM can be the difference in offering better, faster and more comprehensive clinical outcomes. The pandemic period has shown how vital FM is to the whole operation as the way organisations have innovated in how they clean, serve and maintain their services have been quite remarkable. 

Being able to break through ‘ordinary’ or statutory procurement processes has actually been vital for innovation. 

We’ve seen so much of this over the course of the last 18 months or so. Innovation has accelerated as a direct consequence of the challenges we’ve faced through the pandemic.

What are some other common themes that you see in FM contracts in the healthcare sector?

As with much of the economy, there are some major themes that the sector is tackling. These centre on patient welfare, cost, sustainability, net zero carbon, hygiene, infection control, nutrition and hydration, food waste and ‘bed blocking’, and patient stays.

These are all significant and FM touches each of these areas. 

There is much that the healthcare sector is grappling with, and not all as a direct consequence of the pandemic. These are historical issues at play that need attention. FM is the engine that drives hospitals to deliver excellent patient care, any weaknesses in the system are clearly going to manifest themselves with poorer outcomes.

What are some of the unique pressures or challenges for FM in healthcare?

The estate itself is a very mixed bag with a number of legacy buildings that are difficult to manage. This is probably the most significant challenge facing the sector at the moment. Clearly, FM is a key component of this. 

The maintenance backlog of nearly £10 billion shows that the whole system is on a knife-edge with old and dilapidated buildings and assets. The government has responded by pledging the construction of 40 new hospitals but the lead time may be too long to relieve the risk pressure today and not all trusts may benefit. Perversely, the pandemic may have lowered some pressures with lower activity levels, but sites are trying to get back to normal but may be struggling with failing facilities.

The recent independent review of hospital food commissioned by the DHSC suggested that the annual cost of hospital food waste is £230 million or 39 per cent of the total food budget. Whilst it is difficult to achieve zero waste, this figure can be significantly reduced, with savings being reinvested into FM services. We also see too many dedicated FM staff being used where better technology and processes could improve productivity and efficiency.

Technology is also a challenge in the sector on a number of levels. Whilst appropriate tech exists, the sheer effort of implementing is a challenge, either getting through impenetrable firewalls to staff actually prepared to use the systems. 

The outcome is that contractors, in particular, struggle to deliver state-of-the-art and economic FM solutions but invariably are left with the financial and& performance risk of being unable to deliver through no fault of their own.

There are also knowledge gaps that need to be addressed and the investment in expertise needs to be considered to enable better use of technology that could be available to offer more efficiency.

People issues in the wider economy do touch healthcare to some degree, however, in my experience, the sector seems better at looking after its people than many others. Whilst payment of staff compared with the rest of the FM community may be a consideration, terms and conditions are generally good, particularly at entry levels. So retention isn’t as challenging as you see in commercial sector contracts and sites. The bigger challenge is attracting more senior positions and critical skill sets such as authorising engineers, head chefs and housekeeping managers.

How do you think FM services in the healthcare sector are likely to evolve over the next few years and in what ways will they be consistent with or different from FM service delivery in other sectors?

With the reforming of the Public Contracts Regulations, we will hopefully see the loosening of some of the shackles placed under procurement departments and organisations. 

The debate has raged for years in healthcare as to whether FM is a core service or not. In the commercial sector, it is seen as non-core, however, hospitals are different. FM plays a vital role in patient care and can be the difference between better/faster recovery versus having a detrimental impact on the patient journey.

Clearly, given where we are societally, cost is going to be a continued issue especially as our healthcare spend is lower than other developed countries like the US, Germany, France, Ireland, and Australia.

An issue fix for some organisations may be to take money and funds out of facilities management and look at reactive rather than proactive maintenance, for example. This may plug some short-term financial gaps, but condition-based maintenance is not ideal in the long term and this largely explains the current problem.

The future, however, shouldn’t be about cost, but more value, productivity and collaboration.

The good news is that we are seeing more ‘vested’ collaborative contracting-based solutions being considered, with great examples already coming from US, Canada, and Scandinavia. Sharing risk and reward is now being seen as an integral part of the success of any organisation. 

I actually think we will see more cross-collaboration between FMs and FM companies from the commercial sector and healthcare. There are collective lessons to be learned from specialists across each sector. 

I also see how social value offered will drive decision-making for the foreseeable future. The wider impact on outcomes achieved through FM delivery will be key factors for healthcare organisations. 

An abridged version of this Q&A appears in the November-December 2021 edition of Facilitate, which showcased the winners of 2021 IWFM Impact Awards.

More feature content

Georgia-Elliot-Smith

Georgia Elliott-Smith interview 05/06/22 - references

Georgia Elliott-Smith interview references.
Tuesday 17th May 2022
Open-access content
web_©Artic_Wellbeing-at-Work.png

Supporting mental health awareness in facility management employees

Supporting mental health awareness in facility management employees
Sponsored
Friday 13th May 2022
Open-access content
BRITA Facilitate Webinar 24/5/22

Event: how important is physical presence to productivity?

Event: What Next for ‘Water Cooler’ moments?
Webinars
Monday 9th May 2022
Open-access content
Advetec Waste Management Webinar

Waste management: time to tackle waste at source

Waste management: time to tackle waste at source
Webinars
Thursday 28th April 2022
Open-access content
web_Blurred-people-in-office_credit_iStock-1132448384.jpg

Better ventilation does not have to mean less carbon-cutting 

Better building ventilation need not come at the expense of saving energy and cutting carbon, according to a building services engineer. 
Webinars
Friday 22nd April 2022
Open-access content
Nuclear options Heysham 2 maintenance

Nuclear options

The EQUANS contract with EDF to provide facilities management across the UK’s fleet of nuclear power stations demands an understandably reliable and safety-first approach.
Features
Case Studies
Thursday 21st April 2022
Open-access content
Filed in:
Features
Also filed in:
Healthcare

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Today's top reads

 

Latest Jobs

Project Leader (Maternity Cover One Year Contract)

Cambridge
Circa £50,000 Pro Rata + Benefits & Opportunities
Reference
56378

Maintenance Supervisor

Surrey
Up to £43,000 + Excellent Package & Opportunities
Reference
56376

Regional Facilities Manager

South West England
Circa £40,000 + Benefits & Opportunities
Reference
56375
See all jobs »

 

 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to print

Sign up to receive our bi-monthly magazine

Subscribe
Facilitate magazine cover, June 2020
​
FOLLOW US
@Facilitate_Mag
Facilitate Magazine
Facilitate Magazine
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel: 020 7880 6200
​

IWFM

About IWFM
Become a member
Qualifications
Events

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to Facilitate Magazine
Write for Facilitate Magazine

General

IWFM Jobs
Help

© 2022 • www.facilitatemagazine.com and Facilitate Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ