HEALTHCARE & HOSPITAL FACILITIES


HELPING HAND FROM SUPER SOFTWARE


Gary Watkins, CEO, Service Works Group explains how demanding hospital environments could benefit from technological innovation through CAFM software, that can help meet patient care levels.


From their bedside touchscreen, patients can order meals, set temperatures and lighting levels and control the blinds. When a hospital staff member enters, their name appears so the patient knows who’s treating them. Outside the room, sensor-controlled robots weave their way through the hospital’s hallways carrying medications and medical equipment.


This may sound like science fiction, but it’s already happening in hospitals in North America and Australia, while in 2015 the UK’s first super hospital was opened in Scotland with a fleet of robots delivering linen.


Counter this with a number of understaffed, underfunded hospitals, which are being constantly wounded by unanticipated repair costs or failing machinery, and you have both extremes of the maintenance challenge being faced by today’s healthcare facilities.


In the demanding hospital environment, technological innovation through CAFM (Computer- Aided Facilities Management) software is becoming a necessity in order to meet patient care levels, stringent KPIs and ever-tightening budgets. It allows hospitals to manage reactive and planned preventative maintenance tasks, ensuring that work requests and repairs take place in a timely and economical manner, reducing spend and improving efficiency. However, some healthcare establishments are now pushing the boundaries and unleashing the potential of their FM systems, transforming operational performance and improving the level of patient care across the organisation as a whole.


38 | TOMORROW’S FM


The Royal Hospital for Neuro- disability (RHN) in London combines traditional practice with specialist therapies, and life changing technologies, to make a vital difference to the lives of profoundly disabled adults with acquired brain injuries and degenerative neurological conditions. The facilities team responds to a high volume of work requests, around 1,200 to 1,500 each quarter. This service is primarily delivered by the in-house team, with around 30% outsourced to external M&E providers.


“CAFM SOFTWARE IS BEING INCREASINGLY USED TO MANAGE MEDICAL ASSETS.”


QFM software from Service Works was introduced in September 2014 and has been greatly welcomed by the RHN. It delivers real-time visibility of jobs and provides a performance indicator to the hard services team, giving them increased control and a clear measurement of their work. As well as being able to access the system through the web, ward staff can quickly and easily log jobs on the move using smart devices, allowing more of their time to be patient-focused.


Patient-facing work is a priority and the QFM system facilitates this by automatically scheduling work requests. For example, dealing with a flashing light in a room occupied by a resident with locked- in syndrome is work of the highest importance, whereas the same problem in an office would probably not be harmful to the users and is therefore a lesser priority.


QFM’s centralised information and comprehensive reporting capability has reduced the time taken to produce reports and financial records for the hospital management team from around five days to around three minutes.


It has also enabled KPI and SLA measurements to be put in place, ensuring service standards are met and maximum value is achieved with the outsourced service partners.


Across the globe, CAFM software is being increasingly used to manage medical assets, such as ventilators, x-ray machines, and CT scanners. It ensures that equipment is maintained to a high standard, supporting compliance and ensuring that assets are readily available for use. Dashboard reporting – inherent in FM systems – provide complete visibility of maintenance and equipment availability, enabling hospital staff to prioritise resources based on real-time, accurate information.


Future-proofing healthcare estates in terms of space management is also vital as UK trusts merge, sites close or are refurbished, and ward allocations change. Software can be used to assess the suitability of a new building or the feasibility of a particular move. It can produce blocking and stacking plans to help to determine the most efficient ‘fit’ within the space available and can simplify departmental changes with dynamic floor plans for complex moves. Occupancy and asset data can be viewed and overlaid onto graphical floor plans to optimise resource, facilities and space management.


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