Registrations for the first National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day (June 15, 2022) are now at 396, with a reach of 196,000 staff. Please help us to reach the 200,000 milestone by registering to take part in this new national awareness day via the website: www.healthcareEFMDay.org.
National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day has been launched to recognise and celebrate the essential work of estates and facilities (E&F) staff across the health service. The work of the directly patient-facing workforce in hospitals and care settings would be impossible without the army of E&F professionals underpinning them. This awareness day is a great opportunity to shout about this vital contribution, to enhance the public perception of these essential roles and attract wider media attention to ensure E&F staff are more highly valued in their work environments. In raising the awareness of these roles, National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day also has the potential to attract more young people into healthcare E&F as a career choice.
We know that Trusts, hospitals and individual teams around the country are putting their plans together to celebrate the day. Do share your ideas, either via the website, or email HEFMA. Here’s a few ideas we know about - the RLI Estates Maintenance Services team at Royal Lancaster Infirmary are inviting people to take part in a penalty kick challenge in the Estates compound; and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, working with CBRE, is offering generator and plantroom tours throughout the day, cupcakes will be available and there’s an amazing raffle with prizes donated by suppliers.
Join us for the day
Although the response has been incredible, there are still more organisations that have yet to engage with the National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day. If you are reading this and you haven’t yet registered, please head to the website: www.healthcareEFMDay.org to do so. If you have already registered, please encourage your colleagues in other Trusts or teams to join everyone in this initiative to celebrate E&F staff and the work they do. A free supporters kit is available on the website to download and there is also a video that you can share across your own social media to help to raise awareness of the many essential services and activities that E&F teams are responsible for.
National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day is supported by HEFMA and other professional organisations representing the E&F workforce: Association for Healthcare Cleaning Professionals, Hospital Caterers Association, Institute of Decontamination Sciences, Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management, Society of Hospital Linen Services and Laundry Managers and National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers. The day also has the support of the professional E&F leads in the four national NHS bodies, as well as commercial partners and the wider supply chain. This list is by no means exclusive, and other partners who share an interest in promoting the work of E&F staff in healthcare across the UK will be welcomed to help celebrate this special day.
The inaugural National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day will be held on June 15, 2022 (and annually thereafter on the third Wednesday in June).
