NHS England Estates and Facilities third annual Forum
We are delighted to announce that our NHS England Estates and Facilities Forum will be taking place on September 6 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. As we have limited space within the venue, this will be a hybrid event with all sessions live streamed for those who are unable to join us in person.
The day will cover some of the pressing priorities for estates and facilities services across the NHS, and how this fits into a wider strategy for the government estate. Watch out for further details on this important event.
National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day
We are pleased to join forces with our professional bodies in supporting the second annual National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day on June 21. We want to encourage all estates and facilities teams to take part in this year’s activities by registering your interest today on the National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day website. Last year more than 538 organisations came together to recognise the essential contributions our estates and facilities staff make every day; it would be fantastic to see even more involved this year.
On July 5, 2023, the NHS will celebrate its 75th birthday. This is a further chance for us to celebrate 75 years of world class healthcare, and an opportunity for us to shine a light on the commercial community and the fantastic work that you all do every day. Our team will be in touch with information on how you can get involved. Please do take part and if you are doing anything to celebrate, let us know!
Patient food supplier questionnaire
As part of our seasonal planning for estates and facilities a questionnaire on food resilience has been sent from NHS England’s National Operations Centre. The questionnaire should be completed by the catering topic lead, and fully supported by the Director of Estates & Facilities. The response will help to inform NHS England’s ongoing engagement with key suppliers of frozen and chilled patient meals regarding their business continuity arrangements as well as supporting their seasonal planning.
Action needed on 2022/23 ERIC
The 2022/23 ERIC collection is now open until July 31, 2023. The enhanced validation process has been expanded for 2022/23, so all Trusts are requested to have completed the sections on backlog maintenance, energy and waste by 9am on May 30, 2023.
Further information on the background and arrangements for the collection can be found on the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub.
NHS Chef 2023 – applications now open
Applications are now open for the NHS Chef 2023 competition. The NHS Chef competition is an ideal opportunity to showcase the great work that is undertaken every single day by all NHS caterers.
NHS Chef 2023 will build on the success of last year’s competition, won by Erica Bell and Shelley Pearson-Smith from Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport. This year’s menus will focus on reduced saturated fats, sugars and salts.
The closing date for applications is June 16, 2023. Please e-mail: [email protected] for more information.
NHS Chef’s Academy 2023
There are still training spaces left at this year’s Chef’s Academy 2023 in Warrington on May 31. If you are interested in putting forward any of your Chefs or apprentice Chefs for this fantastic training day then you can find out more here, contact your local Food Account Manager or email: [email protected] for more details.
E&F uniform – staff survey
Our thanks again to those E&F teams that provided feedback via our recent survey on their current uniform and what they would like to see from a new national uniform. We have now completed the analysis and the results of this work can be found on the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub.
We are now working on the uniform specification and branding phases of the project and will continue to provide updates.
Technical Standards and Guidance Programme
There is a lot of work going on as part of our statutory requirements to update technical standards and guidance. You can find an update on this work, including recently published guidance, recently completed scoping and engagement exercises, and other documents that are nearing completion via the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub.
The next update of the Technical Standards and Engagement ‘Digest’ is being finalised and will be available very soon. The Digest is a good source of further information on all documents being progressed in the Technical Standards and Guidance Programme. Please look out for this via the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub.
Hewitt review of Integrated Care Systems
This independent review considers the oversight and governance of ICSs, and the NHS targets and priorities for which ICBs are accountable, including those set out in the government’s mandate to NHS England.
State of the estate in 2021/22
This report summarises progress on improving the efficiency and sustainability of the government estate (including healthcare estate) in accordance with the 2008 Climate Change Act.
Environment Agency: Medium Combustion Plant and Specified Generators
This recent briefing note from the Environment Agency relates to the operators of medium combustion plants (MCPs) and specified generators. The Environment Agency recommends that NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts which meet the criteria (existing standalone MCPs between 5 – 20 MWth) apply for standard rules and simple bespoke permits as soon as possible to meet the regulatory requirement for a permit before January 1, 2024. Further information is available from the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub.
Free tree bundles available for NHS sites
NHS Trusts published their Green Plans a year ago. As many Trusts have tree planting within their plans, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (NHS Forest) is providing free tree bundles to NHS sites for planting from November 2023.
Bundles will be provided on a first come, first served basis. Find out more and express your interest in requesting NHS Forest trees here: https://nhsforest.org/green-your-site/tree-planting.
Pre-election guidance for NHS organisations
We are still within the pre-election period so organisations including NHS England remain subject to the requirements around communications during this period. Further guidance is available on the NHS England website.
Schools talks to mark the 75-year anniversary of the NHS
Could you be an NHS Ambassador? The NHS Ambassadors programme connects NHS colleagues with schools. We are looking for colleagues from all levels and professions to register and commit to a minimum of an hour a year to go into schools and colleges - in person or virtually - to talk about their career and illustrate some of the job opportunities available across the NHS.
Bake a birthday cake for the NHS Big Tea
Catering teams up and down the country are an integral part of hospital life, providing nutritious, tasty food to support patient recovery and the wellbeing of our NHS staff. Why not ask your Trust’s catering team to bake a birthday cake for the NHS as part of the NHS Big Tea.
We would love to share photos of what your chefs create for the NHS Big Tea. Send photos to: [email protected] and keep an eye on NHS England social channels to see if your cake is featured!
Busting myths on recruiting under 18s in the NHS
Please follow the link here for some useful case studies and best practice from NHS Employers around employing people under the age of 18.
Join the National Estates and Facilities Workforce Engagement Forum (WEF)
The WEF meets on a quarterly basis. The next meetings are scheduled for:
8 June 2023, 7 September 2023, 7 December 2023, 7 March 2024.
All of these meetings start at 1pm. E-mail: [email protected] to be added to the meeting invitation list.
National Webinars
Please note the following dates in your diaries:
• May 25 - NHS PAM
• July 20 - Hospital Evacuation Procedures.
These sessions are run by members of the national Estates and Facilities team. The webinar links and joining instructions will be sent to all listed E&F contacts around two weeks prior to each event. NHS staff who are not on our contacts list and would like to attend these sessions should e-mail: [email protected] marking for the attention of Tom McHugh and John Showalter to request an invitation. These sessions will take place from 11am until 12:30pm (unless advised otherwise).
The recordings from the national webinars which have taken place to date are all available from the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub. The includes the most recent webinars on the 2021/22 ERIC, Waste Management Strategy and E&F Apprenticeships. We hope to confirm the rescheduled dates for the Medical Gases and Hospital Helipad Landing Sites webinars in the very near future.
NHS ConfedExpo
Please register for NHS ConfedExpo 2023 - tickets are free for NHS, local authority and wider public sector staff. The event, hosted by NHS Confederation and NHS England, will bring together health and care leaders and their teams at one of the biggest and most significant health and care conferences. It’s aimed at NHS providers, ICBs, primary care providers, local government, social care commissioners and providers, and voluntary, community and third sector organisations.
Members of the national E&F Team and our wider Commercial Directorate will be there, so do look out for the sessions we are hosting and come and say hello - it would be great to see you in person.
NHS Estates and Facilities Contact E-mail Addresses
The e-mail addresses for both the National Estates and Facilities Team and the NHS Estates Collaboration Hub are:
NHS Estates and Facilities - Monthly Bulletin
The last Bulletin was issued on April 28. The bulletin provides updates directly from NHS England’s NHS Estates and Facilities Team including the latest guidance, health technical memoranda and policy developments affecting your work, as well as celebrating the successes of the wider E&F community. NHS staff can use the following link to register to receive future editions of the Bulletin: NHS England » Estates and facilities bulletin. The next edition is expected to be issued in the week commencing May 29.
NHS Estates Collaboration Hub
The Collaboration Hub is a protected space for local NHS estates and facilities 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].
We have been arranging masterclasses to help registered members understand and navigate the Hub more effectively. If you are interested in attending one of these sessions then please e-mail the above mailbox.
If your e-mail address has changed (perhaps to .nhs.net), or you have moved to another NHS Trust then please e-mail us with the details ([email protected]) so that we can update our records.
You can also follow our latest news and updates on the NHS Estates and Facilities LinkedIn page.
