Below are this week’s key messages from the national NHS Estates & Facilities Team. Please email any questions or comments you have on any of these items to [email protected] or follow the links where provided.
Online Estates and Facilities Forum – BOOK NOW, FREE to attend
The agenda and registration arrangements for this exciting event have now been launched. Speakers on the day include; Edward Argar MP (Minister of State for Health), Prerana Issar, Sandra Easton, Simon Corben, Fiona Daly, Adrian Eggleton and Craig McWilliam.
Click here to see the full agenda.
You will need to register for each session individually and it would be helpful if you could confirm the sessions of interest to you as soon as possible. Please note that all sessions will be available “on demand” following the event.
We are really fortunate that Edward Argar MP has been able to commit to this event and he is looking forward to engaging with the estates and facilities profession. However, it will not come as a surprise to learn that his time on the day will be constrained by his other ministerial commitments. It would be appreciated if any questions to him could be posted in advance. If there is insufficient time to answer all of the questions these will be followed up as soon as possible afterwards.
COVID-19: General Update and the National Vaccination Programme
The level of infections and hospital admissions are continuing to move in the right direction and we will hopefully see a return to a more normal way of life over the coming months.
As the estates and facilities profession we must continue to remain safe. In doing so please make use of the resource materials which are available now for use by estates and facilities teams to encourage staff vaccination take-up. These can be accessed from the Collaboration Hub.
As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to health and social care workers in England continues, here is some further communication content for you to share with your colleagues and teams. This includes a quote card from Gilly Lee together with an infographic (you must be a member and logged-in to access this link).
The following might also be useful:
• Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent – encouraging colleagues to get vaccinated when invited
• Dr Farzana Hussain - GP determined to put in personal call to every at-risk patient yet to take up COVID-19 jab offer
• Dr Nikki Kanani - NHS reveals blueprint for tackling BAME vaccine hesitancy
To further support the vaccine rollout to the workforce we are seeking regular feedback to help us understand the current position from your perspective.
We would like to thank you for your engagement with the weekly surveys to-date. These responses are pivotal in informing us as to how we can better engage with our healthcare workforce. This will allow us to monitor and improve the impact of our communications to maximise their effectiveness.
A link to this week’s survey is below and again we would be grateful for your responses – the survey will take less than five minutes to complete - https://bit.ly/3u3Q1wN
Thank you for your help and support in this area.
Procurement Partners/Catering Procurement
We are aware that a number of NHS Trusts have been approached by Procurement Partners, requesting data and asking for Trusts to sign up to a procurement framework. There are a number of procurement solutions for NHS caterers and there is generally freedom for NHS Trusts to make their own decisions on national and local frameworks.
Procurement Partners have written to NHS Trusts aligning themselves to the Chair of the food review. This should be ignored as this organisation is not aligned with the national procurement model, nor has the national NHS Estates and Facilities Team been involved in or supported this initiative.
National Webinar: ERIC
A national webinar on ERIC has been scheduled for Friday, February 26 at 1pm. This will include an overview of the recently published 2019/20 ERIC, potential changes to the definitions for the 2020/21 ERIC as well as productivity and efficiency, including case studies.
Invitations have already been sent to estates and facilities directors/teams. However, if you would like further information or to request an invitation, please e-mail [email protected] marking for the attention of Linda Hood.
Virtual Contract Management Network Event
The DHSC Commercial Capability and Supplier Management Team is holding a Virtual Contract Management Network Event. It will feature talks on the latest commercial activities in the health family, provide commercial updates, learning and help build a network of contract managers.
This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone involved in contract management to better understand the commercial skills and capabilities that are available across the health family. This invitation is extended to estates and facilities teams. It would be great for local NHS teams to be well represented at this event.
The virtual event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31, from 1pm to 4pm. If you are interested please keep this time free and contact [email protected] for further information, or to request inclusion on the invitation list.
Operational Pressures
Pressures are still being experienced in waste management. Please refer to the previous updates which have been provided (along with the latest standard operating procedure) and help to ensure that all waste is appropriately segregated.
NHS Trusts still need to complete the daily waste management survey (Monday – Friday). This is critical to us as it enables the national NHS Estates and Facilities Team to provide system wide assurances to both the DHSC and Civil Contingencies Secretariat. Any queries about the survey, or waste management more generally should be sent to [email protected]
Management of Oxygen Services
We would like to thank estates and facilities teams for your help and support over the past few weeks. Previous updates made reference to the pressure on services. We are grateful to all colleagues for enacting the required actions and taking on board the key messages from the guidance. We are now in a much more stable position as a result of the positive engagement we have seen.
NHS England and NHS Improvement National Estates Team: Collaboration Hub
The Collaboration Hub is a protected space for local NHS estates teams to access key information as well as to collaborate and to share ideas and successes. Access to the Collaboration Hub for individuals from local NHS estates teams can be arranged by e-mailing [email protected]
Thank You
Our thanks to all of those working in estates and facilities for all that you in maintaining the NHS estate, facilitating patient care as well as supporting the response to the current pandemic. The service could not function without you.
