The ProCure21+ Partnership Group wins the 2015 Constructing Excellence in London and the South East integration & collaborative working award. This coveted award was presented on the 2nd July at an awards dinner at Lancaster London. Over 540 construction industry professionals attended the awards ceremony which has increased in size by 20% year on year since 2011.
Within the space of just one year, a quantum change has occurred in the NHS – ‘Repeatable Rooms’ have arrived.
In response to the government’s construction strategy and over a 10 month period, the six principal supply chain partners (PSCPs) – Balfour Beatty, Galliford Try, IHP, Interserve, Kier and Willmott Dixon have collaborated within the Procure21plus framework to develop evidence-based healthcare designs that improve patient outcomes whilst delivering capital construction cost reductions.
The P21+ collaborative approach to delivering capital investment in the NHS has facilitated the formation of virtual teams comprising clinicians, patients, academics, managers, designers and others to develop 21 repeatable room arrangements. These include adult acute single bedrooms, 4 bed multi-bed bays; consultation/ examination rooms and mental health bedrooms – with ensuite facilities. Taking their lead from the car industry, where standardisation is common, this innovative work delivers significant savings, with maximum benefit when all the elements are used together. The standard components alone have already saved over £1m, with the potential for £30m per annum savings based on the annual framework spend of £600m.
Principal supply chain members and component suppliers have been involved from the very beginning, willingly providing examples of previous work and freely giving their time and input for workshops and technical review. In total some 40 designers and healthcare planners have been involved in shaping ‘room arrangement’ proposals. On the components side, suppliers have worked together to make recommendations on specifications that maintain performance and quality whilst reducing costs. “Our awards recognise the very best companies, collaborations and projects in the region” said Derek Rees, Regional Director Constructing Excellence “and I hope you will be inspired to adopt some of the new and better ways of working that Procure 21+ have shared.”
From development of a process model to the final output of 21 room arrangements, the creation of fly-through videos, an interactive iPad application and BIM files, the programme’s success has been borne out of integrated working and a common purpose.
The Repeatable Rooms offer best value and are available to all healthcare providers via a royalty free licence. All NHS clients are encouraged but not obliged to use the standard room designs and components.
The aim is to exceed the 14.1% cost reduction target set by the Department of Health. The first P21+ project to use Repeatable Rooms has only just been completed with savings of up to 9% already verified and savings in excess of 20% predicted.
Cultural change has been achieved. NHS Clients are actively seeking to use Repeatable Rooms and requesting other room types, as are healthcare providers outside of the P21+ Framework.
