INSTITUTE NEWS June Lancaster


With a background as a nurse and midwife, June Lancaster is a Chartered Manager, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management and the Institute of Asset Management. As an NHS Trust Director of Nursing and Operations, she led 8000 staff, and was accountable for the delivery of all services and quality of patient care. She also coordinated with the NHS University to ensure that operational clinical activity played a part in the education of the clinical workforce, developing strong relationships with clinical and non-clinical professional bodies. Following this operational role, she served as a clinical advisor to the NHS Estates Division within the Department of Health, supporting engineering/ infrastructure professionals involved in the PFI building programme. She was seconded to work with the


delighted that IHEEM is partnering with Asset Wisdom to develop a suite of online training modules which will eventually lead to a Diploma in Asset Management in the healthcare sector. It is becoming increasingly evident that there is a direct interface and synergy between healthcare asset management and healthcare planning, and I look forward to seeing how these modules bring this together as part of this new training initiative.”


What does the journey look like? For the health sector, Asset Management is new, so what training is required, who needs it, and, once identified, how can it be delivered? It is important to note that Asset Management demands a ‘whole system, whole team’ approach, with more than simply Estates personnel requiring varying degrees of knowledge. The three biggest NHS expenditures are its people, drugs, and estate – so investment in training is needed for all those involved – from procurement through to disposal – if we are to tackle the major challenges facing the management of the NHS asset base. Investment has traditionally been focused on the clinical activity at the expense of the estate – something that, as a clinician, I fully understand. In the past you could say that I was part of the problem, but as I have been on my own Asset Management Learning Journey, I have considered some of the decisions made, and am clear, in retrospect, that I would have taken a wider look at many of the whole lifecycle implications.


Impact of ‘building failures’ A recent article in Health Service Journal (15 October 2021) around patient safety, headed ‘Care is increasingly disrupted by


Care Quality Commission to develop the quality standards for the built environment services within NHS


organisations, influencing the development of the engineering and infrastructure professionals and services, and ensuring that the patient voice was influential in the development of the NHS built environment. Subsequently, as Director of the NHS University, and as its Director of Nursing, she was responsible for the development of the NHS Core Learning Unit, which ensured the development of the NHS eLearning arm, delivering the core learning to all staff working in and for the service, with 400,000 learners within two years. This provided the opportunity to work with the wider organisations delivering services to the NHS, extending the


building failures as the NHS repair bill grows’, in my clinical opinion demonstrates that drastic action is needed. The investment decisions about the NHS estate need to consider the wider implications on patient care and, more importantly, of not making the right decision. We know there is a need for training based on the receipt of the following responses to a questionnaire from IHEEM members. It is interesting to note that 86% were from NHS Trusts, who stated that they would have an interest in further development of the understanding and competencies in Asset Management: n AM is recognised as important, but many consider it as Asset Maintenance.


n There are gaps in knowledge and understanding.


n Training rates on AM are very low, and those who have completed the training are concerned about the lack of tools available to apply the learnings.


Where does the learning journey begin?


The core learning tools are already in place, and the addition over the next year of health sector-specific modules will provide the knowledge to support the implementation of Asset Management within the sector. IHEEM recently published its career pathway, which aligns learning needs to specific roles within the profession. Figure 1 gives some examples of EFM roles and Asset Management learning needs.


In fact there are no ‘start’ or ‘finish’ lines in the learning journey; life is the ultimate learning journey. That said, there does need to be structure to ensure that both individual and organisation get the best result, with evidence produced to support


learning offer to contractors and private providers, and opening the opportunity to develop a suite of eLearning and face-to-face learning to support the development and implementation of asset management within Sodexo to achieve ISO 55000. As MD of Asset Wisdom,


which delivers eLearning solutions ‘to build competence in the next generation of asset managers’, she has retained her relationship with the leaders in NHS Estates functions, and is working with IHEEM to support the development of frameworks, tools, techniques, and learning in asset management, including the development of a Asset Management Professional role within the NHS workforce structure.


the value that embarking on the journey has added.


How do you embed the learning within healthcare?


For me, it is the role of the Asset Management eLearning platform to reinforce the IHEEM core purpose and promote awareness of Asset Management. Doing so will maintain momentum and interest in the community while the NHS specific competency modules are developed, which is the second objective for the eLearning platform.


The steps within this journey will grow over the next year as more eLearning modules are developed – ensuring the sector has the tools and knowledge required to align Estates objectives with the NHS’s overall objectives – delivery of high-quality patient care within fit-for- purpose, safe environments.


The next steps in the development of the learning journey have started. The exciting development is that the first of the new advanced Health Asset Management modules is now completed, and available through the IHEEM website at https://www.iheem.org.uk/. Go to the Learning Hub to see the details of the Asset Management training on Page 5. Asset Management needs to be a core competency requirement for IHEEM/ HEFMA members and Estates and Facilities professionals. There is eLearning already developed and available through the IHEEM website, endorsed by the IAM, and with CPD certification.


To learn more about the Group’s work, or if you are interested in being an ‘early adopter’ of the Asset Management Learning Journey, please get in touch: expert@asset-wisdom.com


January 2022 Health Estate Journal 11


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