DECONTAMINATION SERVICES
NHS ‘supercentre’ fulfils key Royal Free Trust ambition
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust’s vision for a new standalone decontamination centre in Enfield to bring together such services from its three hospitals – some housed in ageing and cramped facilities – under one roof in one modern, well-equipped ‘supercentre’, was successfully realised last year thanks to a partnership with CFES as main contractor, and specialist equipment supplier, Getinge. Louise Frampton, editor of HEJ’s sister publication, The Clinical Services Journal, reports on the impressive new £14 m facility.
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has built a new 32,000 ft2 decontamination supercentre, capable of reprocessing 20 million instruments and 130,000 endoscopes. The £14 m state-of-the-art facility has improved decontamination services, by replacing ageing sterile services and endoscopy reprocessing departments across three hospital sites. At the same time, the supercentre is opening up new sources of revenue for the Trust, by providing decontamination for other hospitals – allowing additional funds to be reinvested back into NHS services.
The existing facilities were reaching the end of their life, and investment was required to maintain a compliant service across the Trust’s three main complexes – the Barnet, Chase Farm, and Royal Free hospitals.
“The average washer-disinfector has a life expectancy of seven years, while an autoclave has an average life span of 10 years. At Barnet, the equipment had far exceeded this, and the department was having to use a collection of portable cabins. The units at Chase Farm and the Royal Free faced similar challenges, with staff working in cramped conditions,” explained general manager, Mark Sibbons. The decontamination units were also facing pressure to keep up with increasing demand. Limited space meant that on- site expansion was not an option. A long- term solution was sought, instead, that would allow the Trust to future-proof its reprocessing services and continue to ensure high quality, safe decontamination of its instruments and scopes. At the same time, this had the ability to free up valuable clinical space at the hospital sites.
The vision
Discussions around the concept of an NHS-owned decontamination supercentre were initiated over 10 years ago, when Andrew Panniker – managing director, RFL Property Services – first shared his vision with Mark Sibbons. There was a growing trend, at this time, for
The NHS facility aims to win contracts from hospitals across London and beyond.
decontamination to be outsourced to large, private sector companies. Andrew saw the potential for a large NHS-owned supercentre to move into this space – keeping investment within the public sector.
“With private decontamination suppliers, up to 40p in the pound is profit. All of this money is being taken out of the NHS. We can reinvest this money on theatres, staff, and on providing a better service,” Mark asserted.
Partnership approach
From the outset, the Trust sought a partnership approach. They wanted to work with like-minded people who would become part of the team and the Trust’s vision to provide a world-class facility. The project has been driven by a collaboration between CFES (a provider of construction, FM, and engineering services), Getinge (a supplier of decontamination solutions), and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
“The Trust had a stringent, staged approach to the tender. Suppliers could only bid for the design phase initially – a large commitment for any business. However, we gained confidence from our engagement with the Trust, and they could see that we worked well within a partnership approach,” commented Rob Doubtfire, managing director, CFES. Other tender stages included: the build, equipment provision, finance, and maintenance and management of the site. Suppliers were scored at each stage and the process was highly competitive. The successful partnership worked closely on optimising the design of the unit, with CFES providing the role of principal contractor, responsible for all construction and plant for the site; and Getinge providing a holistic decontamination solution – from washer- disinfectors, autoclaves, and automated endoscope reprocessing units, to intelligent IT and instrument tracking solutions.
May 2020 Health Estate Journal 55
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