NATIONAL EFM POLICY AND STRATEGY
but if you’re in those conversations as an organisation consistently with the planners – both at Trust and ICS level – then you’ve got a better chance of going through that process in a fairly smooth and coherent manner.”
The mental healthcare estate Switching focus – but still on the NHS estate across England, I asked Simon Corben if he thought there was sufficient focus on the mental health estate. He replied: “In the last four years we’ve deployed £550 m into eradicating mental health dormitories across England – a really successful programme. It’s been a huge programme of significant change, but we still have much to do in this area – as we do around community and primary care.” Simon Corben explained the under the programme, 1,370 dormitory beds had been eradicated, in 33 separate schemes, since 2020. I next asked how well he thought NHS
Simon Corben feels the annual National EFM Day has ‘proven a real opportunity to showcase EFM teams’ work’.
of hospitals, within the timescale we are. There’s thus a huge opportunity for us to learn, replicate some of the learning across the wider NHS, and really look at how we respond to the current operating model within the estate. This is not an opportunity we’ve had yet to this level, and at this pace, so we’re working closely with the NHP team. When they have good ideas, we look at them, and if we think they’re repeatable, we’ll definitely embrace them.” I asked: “The New Hospital Programme
must be a great opportunity for the supply chain to engage with the Programme team and the central NHSE Estates and Facilities team, and for suppliers to innovate?” Simon Corben replied: “The NHS supply chain is intrinsic to the NHS’s successful operation; it employs 40% of our staff, and it’s vital that they’re included in these conversations.”
Opportunities for external suppliers He continued: “Our external suppliers and contractors also, of course, have an unprecedented opportunity. ProCure23 has been fantastic in that, and the relationships we had through it stood us on fantastic ground when we faced the challenges we had through COVID and the Nightingales. We simply wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did without the framework, and the associated relationships and levels of trust.” Returning to the NHP team and its work,
I asked Simon Corben how the Hospital 2.0 concept had come about. He replied: “We’ve all been massive supporters of the standardisation aspects. We have the Repeatable Rooms in P22, and the
40 Health Estate Journal January 2024
ProCure framework, while the construction industry has moved a huge amount on Modern Methods of Construction. I think Hospital 2.0 is more about that, plus the process of taking Trusts and the supply chain through that. The NHP team has definitely embraced this, and developed it as a team.”
Another element of Hospital 2.0 is
how to get new-build and refurbishment schemes approved more quickly via the planning process. I asked how much of a challenge this would be. He replied: “If you have repetition, and standard forms of contract, plus really clear, unambiguous projects coming forward, they’re pretty straightforward to approve. We see that, and in the last 5-6 years we’ve seen tremendous amounts of capital go through the system – through other programmes – to good effect. For example, the mental health dormitory eradication programme; the urgent emergency care schemes, and the RAAC programme, where we’ve deployed significant capital at pace. However, with significant-sized business cases, Government does need to look over them, which takes time, as does external town planning.” I asked, nevertheless, if he felt there was
scope to further streamline the process. He said: “My experience is that it’s not necessarily the individual schemes causing delays; rather it’s the conversations around development control plans, and more strategic conversations with the planners about what you want to do on your site, to ensure no surprises coming forward. There will obviously be circumstances where planning becomes really tricky,
Trusts across England were faring with their Green Plans. Simon Corben said: “I think everybody is embracing these, and from an Estates standpoint, it’s surely a bit of a win-win? Replace you boiler plant, for example, and not only are you reducing your backlog lability, but also your utility bills, and providing something with a far lower carbon footprint. We’ve been really successful in the PSDS (Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme) funding around this, because of the plans these Trusts have. In all we’ve secured over £830 m of additional funding, which we are deploying into the system through the PSDS fund, and – as you know – we’ve set the standard for the Net Zero new builds with our NHS Net Zero Building Standard.” Simon Corben conceded that the PSDS fund had been ‘a challenging programme, due to the way that the application works’. “However,” he added, “we’ve been really successful – by being on top of our game when it comes Net Zero.” I wondered how much pressure the clinical backlog – especially post-COVID, and so-called ‘bed blocking’, were putting on Estates and Facilities teams in terms of utilisation of buildings, etc? Simon Corben responded: “As estates professionals we have to be there to support the programme of recovery – for example by turning beds around as quickly as we can, with porters attending to patients quickly, and by providing high quality food to our staff and patients. Our systems need to be fully operational. We have a major support role in hospitals, so we need to make sure we maintain the momentum and motivation among our workforce to continue doing that. COVID hit the NHS, and we then went full steam into recovery mode. It’s been really difficult for the EFM community and across the NHS, but everyone has stepped up.” On a different note, I asked Simon
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