ESTATE TRANSFORMATION
do, which is really important. Nearly 70% of our staff live in the area, and there is a real sense of pride and tangible excitement across the Trust among our people, who are witnessing first-hand the developments in progress. It’s a brilliant time to be working at East Cheshire, and to be part of the story, as the journey to creating our future-proof hospital environments takes place.” The Trust has a fully in-house hard FM
team, while soft FM activities – including cleaning, catering, security, and portering – are undertaken by ISS. Rob Few said: “We are a small Estates & Facilities team managing the estate – with a three-man Capital Team, and a six-man Operational Team. If we get particularly busy, however, we can ‘flex up’ by using external consultants, contract administrators, and project managers, and ‘flex down’ again when we no longer need this external support and expertise. We also have a five- man EBME team, seven mechanical and electrical technicians, and four handymen.”
Difficult time funding-wise Moving to discuss some of the work currently ongoing or already completed at the three hospitals – with the main emphasis on Macclesfield District General Hospital – Rob Few explained that ‘like many other NHS Trusts’, the Trust had seen a number of years of low investment. He said: “One of the consequences was that the Estates & Facilities team then didn’t feel able to make the environment better for patients, staff, and visitors; the funds were simply not there to do so. COVID-19 however, changed all that, because we had to look at the estate in a totally different way. Not only did we have to re-focus on patient and staff well-being, but with the associated impact on ventilation systems and space, we also had to change our whole approach to operating, managing, and maintaining our hospitals.” He went on to explain that one of the pandemic’s impacts on the Trust’s current Estate Strategy had been that some of the work in it had been brought forward via the funds the Trust has recently secured – largely thanks to the
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‘very proactive approach’ of its CEO, Ged Murphy, and Director of Finance, Kara Mason. He explained: “There are a number of elements to the exciting and far-reaching work I have brought you up to Macclesfield to discuss. There is the decarbonisation of the estate, for which we have obtained a £7 m grant from Salix, and which is absolutely key for us given the NHS’s Net Zero ambitions, and a number of other significant refurbishment and new-build elements, which perhaps we can discuss first?”
Delayed by the pandemic He continued: “Our last full Estates Strategy ran out in 2019, and the pandemic delayed us formulating a new one – because we knew significant changes were emerging. The Board has built up a strategy called ‘Working Together’, and we are aiming to dovetail into it with our updated Estates Strategy, which began running last year. Historically,” he added, “our Estates Strategies have run for a five- year period. Having experienced delays in a number of areas of planned work with the outbreak of COVID-19, much of the funding we have received in the past 18 months has been around improving our facilities for elective surgery, and elective recovery, and upgrading our Emergency Department here in Macclesfield.
New MRI suite being built “We are also having a new MRI suite created here – currently being built – and a new ultrasound department, and enhancing our Endoscopy Department so that it can achieve JAG accreditation.” Another of the key focuses in the current Estates Strategy is to remove non-clinical services from clinical areas, and provide better staff and patient facilities within the footprint. Rob Few elaborated: “So, what we’ve done is to take office staff out in some areas, and put in wellbeing and changing rooms and breakout spaces for staff on each of the hospital’s 12 wards. Our ERIC returns indicate that our estate is 99.6% full, so it’s largely been about reviewing how we are using our buildings to provide an improved, more modern,
The very fact that there is significant investment being channelled into the working environment is giving staff a real boost; they feel as valued as our patients do, which is really important. Nearly 70% of our staff live in the area, and there is a real sense of pride and tangible excitement across the Trust among our people, who are witnessing first-hand the developments in progress
East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Associate Director for Estates & Facilities, Rob Few
24 Health Estate Journal June 2023
patient and staff environment. “A good example of how a relatively small-scale investment can make a big difference,” he explained, “has been our recent work with ISS to upgrade the hospital’s (first floor) popular Treetops Restaurant, which is used by staff, patients, and visitors. We have put in a ‘breakout’ area so people can charge their phones – with a bit more of a ‘Costa’ feel to it, provided new desks and tables, and a new servery, re-decorated the space, and installed a plant divider, to give a feel of nature. The restaurant has a pleasant view, – as its name suggests – over treetops at the front of the hospital. We also have in our Estates Strategy plans to replace the windows, paint the rendering, and generally make the restaurant a more inviting place to come into.”
Backlog maintenance and energy reduction Rob Few explained that the Trust’s Estates and Facilities team has typically received ‘circa £2 m’ annually to offset backlog maintenance. He said: “This year, however, we obtained around £7 m from Salix for energy projects, to which the Trust has added about £1.5 m, meaning that, overall, we are spending around £8.5 m on energy and carbon reduction activity. We also have a funding allocation for a new Elective Treatment Centre (Phase 1), which will be at the front of the hospital, and is being created via the refurbishment of an existing ground floor area. Being built by City Build, this will house four new general surgery rooms, and will give our day case activity a real boost.” The new elective treatment facility will also house a new Women’s Unit, while the broader goal is to make it as ‘multi-purpose’ as possible, with both male and female facilities. The Centre will be linked to the hospital’s Outpatients’ Department, and will principally be used for day case procedures. The Trust has also recently received a further £200,000 to expand its Mammography services in the New Alderley House building close to the Estates office on the Macclesfield District General Hospital site, again via refurbishment – the hospital is the lead provider for such services in Cheshire.
Coming together simultaneously “A lot of this new-build and refurbishment
work is coming together simultaneously, so it’s an extremely busy and exciting time,” Rob Few explained. “We are investing £6 m jointly in the hospital’s Endoscopy Treatment Unit and the new MRI suite, which will have a new MRI scanner. To extend our Endoscopy unit on the hospital’s first floor, directly above Radiography, we’ve had to build the ground floor elements to support it, which left a void space, into which we are moving the new Ultrasound Department. The new
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