ESTATES STRATEGY
Catering for an increasingly flexible workforce
During the current coronavirus pandemic, many staff – from many different disciplines and business types – have been working highly effectively remotely. Here, Stephen Edgar, director of Property, Donna Fitzpatrick, Project associate director, and Maeve Dunne, Programme associate director, at healthcare strategy and planning consultancy, ETL (formerly Essentia Trading), explore how Trusts can embrace the impacts of COVID-19 when it comes to flexible working.
The Naylor Report highlights how NHS Trusts should look to generate capital by reducing lettable and saleable assets to reinvest in patient care and improve existing estates. The process of transforming the way a Trust operates is likely to be accelerated by COVID-19, as changing working practices during the pandemic have clearly demonstrated that many people can in fact work flexibly and remotely while maintaining a full-speed approach.
In this article, among the topics we will focus on will be the money-saving opportunities that are available to Trusts by relocating and optimising office space in the right locations, to reduce journey times, improve staff wellbeing, and adapt to new ways of working, all while simultaneously improving connectivity
and achieving sustainability targets. We will also delve into a recent ETL project to move the location of a high-profile Trust; it is estimated that the previous office space was significantly underutilised, with a utilisation rate of just under 55%.
Office space and lack of utilisation Traditionally, NHS Trusts’ support services have tended to be based in large, open plan areas, and are often co-located with clinical buildings. These organically grown workspaces often feature large amounts of storage, as well as decades’ worth of accumulated notes, reports, and papers. These sites are often owned or leased by a Trust, but are often not suitable for clinical activity, and might typically range from late 20th century office builds, to pre-1945 heritage buildings. The nature of
the services delivered from these facilities means that utilisation rates can be between 45% and 65%. Inefficient working environments are not conducive to productive staff delivering the high- class outputs expected of NHS providers. Office locations can suffer from a lack of natural light, poor historical maintenance, lack of air-conditioning, poor Wi-Fi coverage, and limited workspace options. This has been shown to reduce the productivity of employees, and also to reduce wellbeing.
The utilisation of the space and lack of flexibility within it can lead to further inefficiencies. Staff are often located over several floors that are arranged by function, and this reduces opportunities to integrate. Often office geography and physical constraints reduce an
ETL is currently helping a major NHS Trust with its office relocation to a modern working space. Providing less desk space gave the opportunity to create a variety of different work environments, including more collaboration areas.
October 2020 Health Estate Journal 93
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
