FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Teamworkandcommitment have made the difference
Anyone working in healthcare has their own experience from the COVID-19 outbreak, and especially its peak, but what was it like for those working behind the clinical care frontline in facilities management? Louise Jackson, who leads the VINCI Facilities team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, told us her story.
One of the things you learn quickly in facilities management is that not many days are the same. It’s one of the factors that make the job interesting and challenging. There’s often something new to deal with, even though we are working to a plan. That all changed in March this year. People reading this will nod their head. Priorities, plans, and day-to-day actions changed for everyone, formally, once the Prime Minister confirmed ‘lockdown’. Like us, healthcare workers and their support teams had some clue about what was coming down the line and we had been preparing, but, honestly, nothing can really prepare you for what COVID-19 meant.
As a business, VINCI Facilities teams work at 11 hospitals across the UK. Many of us in the healthcare team have specialised in the sector for some time. I am a senior project manager, and I have been with VINCI Facilities for over 10 years, previously working at High Wycombe, Amersham, and Henley hospitals, and now I lead our team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich – part of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. So, we are an experienced team, but from the moment the UK went into lockdown, everything changed for us at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich. It is no exaggeration to say that, in reality, while we were prepared, we still had no idea how much the pandemic was going to hit us. Regardless, however, there were key things that I had to address as the manager. The welfare of my team was always going to be paramount. How much were any of us at risk? How could we protect our people and still deliver the services expected of us by clinical colleagues, not just the client team? Then, we needed to look forward: to prepare for the peak of admissions being predicted. What extra duties might our team be asked to deliver? What role was there going to be for FM, and the NHS Trust’s estates team, during the crisis?
Going back to the basics
In that situation, you need to have a plan – in a sense go back to the basics. So, we focused on business continuity (BCP),
34 Health Estate Journal October 2020
doors. We also had to deal with the maintaining of the oxygen supply. Our role was to take on board the clinicians’ requests, let them know if they were possible, suggest different solutions if possible, and communicate this to VINCI Facilities, who responded without question, and executed the work very quickly. It was a true partnership, playing a key role in helping the Trust to care for local communities during the pandemic.”
Splitting shifts to minimise infection risk
Louise Jackson, who leads the VINCI Facilities team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, said: “One of the things you learn quickly in facilities management is that not many days are the same. It’s one of the factors that make the job interesting and challenging.”
because like the clinical teams at the hospital, we knew we had to carry on as normal. That ‘normal’ is about repairs, maintenance, and refurbishment – keeping the clinical space functioning throughout. Sometimes it involves working with our colleagues in VINCI Construction and our Building Solutions team, where the work is more about the built fabric: proper hard FM, as it were. It always means we work very closely with the Estates team from the NHS Trust, which is led by Paul Jackson, CMgr, Eng Tech, FIHEEM, FCMI, senior Estates manager, PFI & Contracts, for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. He said: “We have worked closely with VINCI for some years. During the pandemic, the clinical team kept requesting changes for us in many areas of the building – including altering ventilation from positive to negative, and fitting of
So, one of the first things we did was to split shifts to minimise the risk of infection if anyone fell ill, and create a rota, so that half the staff had to work from home where possible, while the other half would be on site. This gave us some room to be able to adapt as and when things ramped up – which they did, quickly. Additional works started to come through thick and fast: extra doors, walls, and signage put up etc, which was fine, but almost always came through at 4.30 pm on a Friday afternoon, which did cause some issues and concerns around obtaining the materials in large numbers. We found ourselves doing everything from installing new walls, to plumbing in and fitting extra washing machines and tumble dryers for site staff. A great example is how we coped with fitting over 100 doors across three floors and the A&E department over a weekend, and liaising with police and local government, plus the Port of London Authority, to allow the lorry to actually deliver the doors, let alone install them.
Paul Jackson said: “VINCI Facilities did an amazing job – obtaining 100 doors at a few hours’ notice is no mean feat; the logistics alone was a huge undertaking. Another example was changes to the ventilation systems, which could not have been executed without the on-site team, and especially Alex Boyd and his manager Ian McFarlane. VINCI also ensured that the oxygen system was maintained, and enabled us to provide care for the increasing number of patients requiring this treatment.”
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