ESTATES AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
might mean ensuring that all waste is directed to the most sustainable end-of- life solution, while cleaning personnel might perhaps switch to using plastic- and chemical-free cleaning products. Without an independent benchmarker that can provide information on trends in the wider sector, it is hard for an organisation to obtain a broad picture of all the possibilities.
Healthcare systems are, of course, currently also dealing with the serious issues and ramifications associated with the COVID-19 virus. Frontline estates and facilities personnel – and particularly cleaners, other housekeeping staff, and Infection Prevention and Control teams – all play a key role in limiting the spread of the virus and other harmful viruses and bacteria within the healthcare environment. Understanding the threat, and carrying out a risk assessment and a benchmarking of the current facilities management provision, are more important than ever.
The power of ongoing benchmarking
Regular benchmarking has significant value, and is often the preferred route for organisations wanting to show continuous improvement or compliance with ever more stringent legislation. By repeating the benchmarking process over a number of years, businesses can collect data that has a wider frame of reference. Smaller elements of the organisational system can be noted, and their impact on the overall running of the facility understood. The ‘softer’ side of the facilities management processes can also be better understood, such as organisational culture and subcultures, staff engagement, and training opportunities. The organisation can thus gain a highly accurate picture of its market position. The change management process can also be considered by the benchmarker, so that the most effective method of implementing better practice can be employed.
Cleaning is a particularly pertinent issue with the spread of COVID-19, but good practice in healthcare is always vitally important. In addition to having to follow, and adhere to, the national specifications and standards for cleaning, the NHS is monitored under the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment scheme. Whether cleaning teams are outsourced or not, having an external and independent benchmarking process in place is a signal to all users of a healthcare facility that the highest standards of practice are in place.
Potential for cost reduction Although cost reduction is not the main driver for best practice benchmarking, a reduction in costs and streamlining may
70 Health Estate Journal May 2020
well be a result of the process. There are plenty of aspects of facilities management which are run in a tried and tested way rather than being adapted to a growing and evolving company. At a simple level, this might be the regularity of waste collection, or cleaning certain areas. If these processes are over-scheduled, an NHS Trust or other healthcare provider may both be wasting money, and giving rise to unnecessary emissions generated from transport, cleaning materials, and waste. By benchmarking these processes and considering their efficiency, the Trust, or its cleaning or waste operator, may be able to make small changes which save money and result in a ‘greener’ solution. In some cases, finding alternative end- of-life solutions to certain waste products can actually generate new revenue streams. A healthcare provider organisation that only determines and evaluates its performance and processes in comparison with its own previous experience will lack insight from the rest of the industry, and may thus never explore what improvements and efficiencies it could potentially make. It is easy to become entrenched in tried and tested practices, but even where it becomes clear that they are no longer ‘the right fit’, many struggle to envisage new, alternative options. An independent benchmarker offers the objectivity to be able to do this.
A real understanding
An independent benchmark is important for more than just credibility. It is easy to believe that with technology now capable of generating large volumes of data, an organisation can create a benchmark of its activities and services as efficiently and accurately as an expert benchmarking organisation. However, it is a fallacy that data and information are equivalent. Without the means of dissecting the data available, the data cannot be applied and harnessed to the optimal effect. Independent benchmarkers are experts in the data they collect, and in using it to provide relevant information that can effect worthwhile improvements. Data available from a broader, sector-wide context is also invaluable in making viable comparisons of performance. An independent best practice benchmark provides transparency for an organisation such as an NHS Trust and its Estates and Facilities operation at all levels. A one-dimensional approach will never provide a full and accurate understanding of the many different processes and activities which take place within such a large and complex organisation, and how, with the implementation of the ‘right’, carefully considered, measures, efficiency, cost- effectiveness, and quality of service, can be improved.
Mike Boxall
Mike Boxall is the managing director of Sitemark, and has a reputation for creating innovative business solutions that provide significant benefits to clients who deliver, or procure, a range of facilities management services. With over 25 years’ experience advising service- providers and end-users on efficient service delivery within the public and private sectors, he first established a regional janitorial business in 1991. Having built this into an award- winning, multi-million pound distributor supplying commercial cleaning equipment worldwide, the business was subsequently sold. He has mentored many start-up cleaning businesses, and was the founder of the UK’s largest online cleaning community, with over 30,000 registered members.
He now leads an enthusiastic team developing FM performance standards based on industry best practice for blue-chip clients with a combined annual facilities budget in excess of £1 bn. He and his team have independently benchmarked over 300 separate service-providers at more than 7000 commercial sites. These, Sitemark says, include ‘many of the UK’s most iconic buildings’ in the commercial, retail, education, and healthcare sectors. Through the identification and sharing of best practice methods, Sitemark says clients are able to drive continuous improvement and demonstrate best value, taking into account both the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. Mike Boxall has a keen interest in continuous improvement, lean processes, eCommerce, business development, and generally improving the professionalism and recognition of the FM sector as a whole.
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