FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
The NHS and local authorities are going to be finding themselves working much closer together in the future – and facilities are no exception. Adam Hewitt reports.
C
hanges in the way that public health and social care are provided will
mean new ways of working between the NHS and local councils, while Health & Wellbeing Boards will get elected council- lors involved in the oversight of healthcare in a much more direct way than the present system of JSNAs and other arrangements.
But as well as these changes, and as well as closer working on emergency prepar- edness, and attempts to align the budget- setting processes of local government and the NHS, many organisations on both sides of the divide are seeing the potential to cut costs while make more efficient use of space by sharing their estate.
Local authorities and NHS organisations in areas as diverse as Herefordshire, Black- burn, Torbay, Northumberland and North East Lincolnshire have been seeking or deepening such partnerships.
Jonathan Stewart, chairman of the East of England branch of HEFMA (the Health Estates & Facilities Management Asso- ciation), writes in the latest edition of the organisation’s magazine, for example: “Another positive spin-off from the dire national financial situation has been the willingness of local public sector organisa- tions to work together to share accommo- dation and develop joint solutions to meet local needs.”
This “opens up tremendous opportunities”, he says, while acknowledging the bureau- cratic hurdles that stand in the way of such partnership working over property.
Some of these conversations have also in- cluded bodies from elsewhere in the public sector, including police and fire services, and local branches of Government agen- cies and departments. Devon, for exam- ple, has been working to establish a Public
Sector Property Asset Board with mem- bership across all these sorts of organisa- tions, while in West Sussex, the county hall at Horsham is being shared between the council, HMRC and the Health Pro- tection Agency. Many of these agreements had their genesis before the current QIPP efficiencies drive and NHS reforms; since 2009, for example, Herefordshire has seen NHS organisations and the council sharing services and allowing hot-desking, so staff from any organisation in the partnership can work anywhere else.
Along with the significant effect that the NHS reforms will also have on the health service estate, with the clustering of PCTs and SHAs and their upcoming abolition, such partnership arrangements are going to become more and more common.
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Grant Bailey, sales & marketing director at Thermal Energy International, explains how steam traps and heat recovery economisers installed in NHS buildings can cut costs and energy usage.
hermal Energy International Inc. (TEI) will be exhibiting its range of awarding-winning energy efficiency products at the NHS SDU Conference, The Brew- ery, City of London on 14 Febru- ary and on stand C8 at the NEC Birmingham from 28 February to 1 March.
T
TEI’s products include its GEM venturi orifice steam traps and its flue-gas condensing heat-recovery economisers.
Instead of utilising a valve mecha- nism to close off steam, the highly efficient GEM steam traps use the patented venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam-system and maximise energy and water conservation. As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, they provide a permanent so- lution to steam trapping and con- densate-return problems.
GEM traps also improve prod-
Matt Hardy, Energy Manager at the RNOH (left) with Grant Bailey, sales & marketing director, Thermal Energy International.
uct processing by enhancing the quality of steam and reducing equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs. Available in a wide range of sizes for a cross section of applications, and with optional filter where applicable, the GEM steam traps provide
68 | national health executive Jan/Feb 12
companies with a fast payback in increased equipment reliabil- ity, water, and energy savings of around 20%.
TEI’s flue-gas condensing-heat recovery economisers can re- duce the energy consumption of
an industrial boiler by up to 18% by capturing the waste heat in the flue stream and converting it to hot water. Both products are helping hospitals reduce carbon emissions. Under the Govern- ment’s CRC Carbon Reduction Scheme, from 2012, large energy users, such as hospitals, have to buy allowances at a rate of £12 per tonne per annum for each tonne of carbon dioxide produced. Conse- quently, participants that reduce energy consumption will reduce energy bills and therefore pur- chase fewer allowances.
TEI is an innovative technology company providing custom energy and emission reduction solutions. The company’s award winning energy recovery,
conservation
and bio-energy solutions provide significant financial and environ- mental benefits to customers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
T: 0117 917 7010 F: 0117 917 7011 W:
www.thermalenergy.com
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