NATIONAL EFM POLICY AND STRATEGY
had a lot of capital come our way in the past two years. Getting back on our feet and deploying this effectively has been a challenge. We’ve continued with the Productivity Programme, and will have hit the Lord Carter targets this year, and are on track to exceed them – a testament to the work of our teams. By the end of 2023/24, Estates teams will have delivered productivity savings of £1.375 bn against a Carter target of £1.275 bn. In addition, Estates teams have reduced non-clinical space in NHS buildings by 26.1% – from 44% in 2015/2016 to 32.6% in 2021/2022. Much of this space has been converted into core clinical space.” Simon Corben continued: “We also
reinitiated the HBN and HTM programme, and have mandated the Premises Assurance Model since COVID. It’s also been about keeping the profession ‘revved up’ and buoyant, and knowing they are valued. Keeping ourselves in the limelight as a community is very important.” I wondered what achievements he was
most proud of, and if he had identified any particular goals over the short to medium term. He said: “In terms of my proudest moments over the past six years I’d say the response to COVID and Grenfell, NHS Chef, the raising of the workforce’s profile, and the instigation of the New Hospital Programme. The hard work and commitment of the EFM workforce have been extraordinary. I’m so proud of my team and our community, and having steered us through those situations. I’m also proud that we are increasingly drumming the drum for the EFM community. I think we now have far more influence at the top table. While there’s still work to be done, Estates and Facilities is a very important part of the conversation now, and we are starting to see more capital coming into the system.”
Productivity targets He continued: “We’re also still hitting our productivity targets. There’s a lot that has made me very proud, but I couldn’t have done it without my team. Looking ahead, I really want to cement in long-term capital
Simon Corben sees talking about healthcare engineering / EFM careers in schools and other educational settings as an important part of his role.
planning principles, and widen our reach in terms of EFM services across geographic areas. This, in turn, leads to the workforce agenda and recruiting people. I also want us to be more corporate in our approach to managing our assets.” Simon Corben explained that this came back to the ‘Core, Flex, and Tail’ approach he had earlier highlighted. He said: “It’s about being more rigorous
in how we move and utilise our assets. My other goal,” he added, “is to have a ‘digital wrapper’ around all of this. We now have a really straightforward new capital reporting tool we’re rolling out that we want the entire NHS to put their capital programmes through in terms of monitoring cost and programme. It will allow us, ICSs, regions, and the national EFM team, to have clear oversight on progress with projects. We’ve signed the contracts, and are currently rolling it out across ICSs on a number of schemes. We will do this internally for two years before deploying it out into the system. We also have the SHAPE portal – our asset management platform, which is being used by all the ICSs in the development of their Estates Strategies. We then have the operational work we discussed earlier.”
March saw Simon Corben take on a challenge for The Brain Tumour Charity, during which he was part of a group that climbed the equivalent height of Everest over four days in the Swiss Alps.
‘Some long days’ I asked – with all this going on – how pressured Simon Corben finds his role. He said: “There can be huge pressure. I work long hours and travel a lot, but I’m driven by the fact that we’re incrementally making changes, and I really enjoy the job; it’s fascinating.” One of the new ‘spare time’ activities he has got involved with in the past year is mountaineering, although he was already a keen skier. He explained: “In March 2023 I took on a challenge for The Brain Tumour Charity, during which a group of us climbed the equivalent height of Everest over four days in the Swiss Alps. It was tough, but also a wonderful experience to meet different people from all sorts of backgrounds. I enjoy ski-touring, but to go through that monotony and the degree of physical exercise for 10 hours a day for four days with little sleep in between – albeit with some fantastic guides spurring us on, was quite something. The son of a great friend has a brain tumour, which is how I got involved. Our team raised £250,000. I raised £20,000 myself through support from the community, for which I’ll forever be grateful. Getting to the end was quite a moment.”
January 2024 Health Estate Journal 43
Courtesy of NHS England
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