26 March 2015
NHS Property Services Ltd, has announced a partnership with the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) to provide membership and professional development for 1,500 of its FM employees.
NHS Property Services has one of the largest property portfolios in Europe and manages and maintains 10 per cent of the NHS property estate - equating to 4,000 NHS buildings.
It is currently undertaking a major transformation project with the aim of driving efficiency through effective estates management and FM support services.
It has reduced the running costs of the property services it manages by £78 million since its inception in April 2013 - with every pound reinvested back into the NHS - and has created significant economies of scale, improved ways of working and a property services company with an £846 million turnover.
The partnership will enable the BIFM membership to provide 1,500 nominated NHS Property Services employees with the information, guidance, networking opportunities and continuing professional development tools to develop their professional skills and competences. This partnership will see the two organisations working together to map development paths using the institute's FM Professional Standards framework to identify skills gaps and training needs. A customised programme of formal development opportunities through BIFM qualifications and training will also be available for these members.
Dennis Markey, COO of NHS Property Services, said: "This is a key partnership for us as we provide continued opportunities for our staff to enhance their professional skills and provide better services to our customers to benefit all those who use our healthcare facilities. We have already saved over £15 million in the last 12 months by improving FM delivery efficiency across the country and we need to further invest in our teams supporting their development to drive further savings."
Gareth Tancred, CEO, BIFM said: "NHS Property Services is at the forefront of significant change in the way that the property portfolio within health services is managed. It is introducing benchmarks and management audits not just to performance and price but also, as today's announcement shows, to staff learning and development. Our professional standards are the essential roadmap for anyone in the FM profession who takes their career seriously.
"Backed up with formal qualifications, training and membership levels, they reflect what is required of a modern FM professional and the competences and skills to be effective. As a professional body, we are dedicated to supporting FM professionals and we look forward to forging a meaningful, lasting and productive relationship with our new partners. We are both passionate about the shared vision of the value that highly trained FM professionals can deliver for the quality of their services."