Overview

Medicinq are about to embark on their 6th successive maintenance contract covering Backlog Maintenance and Fire Upgrades through ProCure21. Ealing Hospital NHS Trust recognised the need to carry out essential fire upgrade works within their 352 Bed Acute hospital. They were able to turn to a PSCP who they discovered had a wealth of knowledge in this area.

Ealing Trust turned to neighbouring West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust for advice on project delivery. West Herts had successfully completed over £5m of similar fire upgrade work through ProCure 21 with Medicinq as the PSCP. The Project Director at Ealing was satisfied that both Procure 21 and Medicinq were the correct tools to effectively complete the project. This was reinforced when they discovered that the same PSCP had delivered 5 near identical schemes through P21 previously.

Medicinq were able to bring their extensive knowledge to Ealing Hospital through their “lessons learnt” philosophy. They brought with them expertise of the procurement system and the successful execution of this type of project. As a result, the Fire Safety Strategy scheme at Ealing has been programmed with absolute confidence. Also the lead-in period was extremely productive. During this time enhanced level 2 asbestos surveys amongst others were conducted via the PSCP with minimum disruption to the hospital activities. When based on projects outside of P21, the Trust saved 90% of the usual cost for survey fees alone due entirely to the collaborative working of the whole team. This is attributable to focussing the attention and detail where the resources really count. And with the least disruption.

Minimising disruption was never more evident than when Medicinq carried out a complete external façade upgrade in a busy General Hospital. East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust needed to ensure the continuing safety of all users at Lister Hospital when the external façade became unstable. Medicinq was appointed to replace the cladding and windows in this 7 storey 500 bed District General Hospital. Patients and medical staff could continue with business as usual thanks to the PSCP offering a flexible approach including working out of hours.

Achievements and Benefits

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust is confident the Fire Safety Strategy scheme will prove to be very effective. They know that Medicinq has helped other Trusts in a similar position to fulfil their objectives:

• Flexibility was always the key driver for Watford for example. And this was never more evident when the project had to stop on several occasions whilst the PSCP was on site due to encountering unforeseen problems. Asbestos was one such encounter that halted the progress in its tracks but was effectively remedied.
• Under a traditional contract, the Trust may have faced claims from the principle contractor for delays and an extension of time. But the technical expertise of the Contractor and specialist suppliers remained close to hand. This meant that the optimum remedial methods were instantly available. From this a revised timetable was constructed which included a real-time risk register. This meant that a single compensation event, fully detailing the investigation and remedial works necessary to minimise delays to the completion date, was pursued.
• Another benefit arose from the continuous improvement culture that is prevalent within Procure 21. Drawing on previous P21 schemes, Medicinq was able to challenge conventional wisdom and redesigned the service distribution networks. Programme reduction, lower cost and easier maintenance were the immediate benefits. And the fire integrity was maintained too.
• The working relationships within the project delivery team, including co-location has resulted in fast and effective on-site decision making.
• Replacing the external cladding at Lister did not interrupt the planned daily routine of either patients or staff.

Principles and Objectives.

The overriding objective of the Fire Safety upgrade work and the maintenance was to enable the Trusts to continue operations without compromising safety. Without these interventions the Trusts may have faced the prospect of ward closures due to non compliance with legislation.
Once identified as a priority within the Capital investment programme, a fast and effective remedy was required. The Estates engineering team had to be able to work much closer with the project team to enable the speedy identification of solutions.
The Business Cases needed to go beyond the usual requirements and was enhanced by comprehensive survey work and solutions, without extending the programme.

Lessons Learnt and applied to this project included:

• Thorough planning of the works based on finding alternatives to costly and disruptive service distribution networks
• Refining the brief to include enhanced level 2 asbestos surveys and highly detailed contingency planning
• Access to key stakeholders to find the optimum balance of contract execution with minimum disruption
• Flexibility in programme without contract slippage
• Co-locating with the Trust offering the reassurance of an on-demand service.
• True partnering ethos with 6 schemes completed or in progress with 3 Trusts requiring similar services.