Birmingham Primary Care Shared Services
“Since the fm facts Helpdesk module was introduced we have had sections of it redesigned, with the help of Integrated fm, to suit our particular requirements”, said Estates Information Officer Margaret Higgins.
With a view to increasing efficiency and improving service to internal customers, Birmingham Primary Care Shared Services Agency (BPCSSA) has implemented intranet functionality on its fm facts Helpdesk system. In addition, the Trust has recently implemented Integrated fm’s new Property Management module to assist with managing the complexities of the estate.
Helping to support primary care in Birmingham
BPCSSA provides a range of support services, including facilities and estates management, to the four Birmingham Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). The estate consists of community health centres, clinics, a dental hospital and two elderly services hospitals in Birmingham. The agency manages some 250 sites having 583 beds and a total floor area of 116285 m². They handle over 22,000 reactive calls and around 7000 planned preventative maintenance (PPM) tasks a year.
The agency operates five helpdesks, serving different groups of buildings. Linking these to the intranet enables requesters to log their tasks directly onto the system without needing
to telephone the helpdesk.
Since the fmfacts Helpdesk module was introduced we have had sections of it redesigned, with the help of Integrated fm,to suit our particular requirements”,said Estates Information Officer Margaret Higgins. “For example, different buildings or parts of buildings are the responsibility of different Primary Care Trusts and these relationships have been built into the database. As a result, operatives taking tasks no longer have to check which Trust that asset belongs to; the system provides this information automatically”, she added.
System configuration
“Again, we have worked closely with Integrated fm to configure the system to our needs. At every stage, Integrated fm has proved very flexible and when a problem arises they sort it out very quickly”, she concluded.
BPCSSA also operates Integrated fm’s Asset Management module to assist with the management of PPM. The nature of the varied types of buildings means that the requirements for PPM also vary a great deal. “Larger buildings such as hospitals have bigger and more complex plant than, for instance, a house that has been converted to a clinic, so the PPM requirements are very different. Use of the Asset Management module provides the flexibility for each group to manage the PPM to suit their own needs”, Margaret Higgins noted.
The estate which BPCSSA manages is complex. Some buildings are owned outright and some are leased – and in some cases areas within buildings are sub-let with the BPCSSA acting as landlord.
To assist in managing these complex relationships, the agency has implemented Integrated fm’s Property Management Module across the estate. “We needed a central repository for the data relating to each building, to bring it all together in the same format”, Margaret Higgins continued. “It provides us with a combination of effective day-to-day management and a strategic overview of all operations across the estate.”
“Again, we have worked closely with Integrated fm to configure the system to our needs. At every stage, Integrated fm has proved very flexible and when a problem arises they sort it out very quickly”, she concluded.
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