Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust
Information technology can have enormous value for facilities and estates management departments, as long as they adopt a system that suits their needs. Armed with the right system and backed by the right supplier, the software can really be made to work for its living, as evidenced by the use of Integrated fm’s fm facts software at Gwent Healthcare (NHS) Trust.
Multiple modules
The trust uses six fm facts modules on a daily basis – Helpdesk, Asset Management (preventative maintenance), Communications, Stock Control, Survey Management and Resource Booking. The helpdesk takes around 1500 calls per week; they issue between 250 and 300 asset-related tasks each week and have over 3500 assets stored in the Asset Management module. The Resource Booking module facilitates approximately 24 rooms across three main sites, both Resource Booking and Helpdesk are accessible across Gwent Healthcare internal intranet. In addition, the Survey Manager module was initially purchased to survey their patients' thoughts on the catering provided by the trust. This proved very successful and they are now in the process of implementing a survey for their customer management centre.
Implementation
All six modules are used very effectively, as a direct result of the vision of the Contract Services Department within Gwent Healthcare NHS – a vision that was turned into reality through close teamwork between Integrated fm and the Contract Services team. As a result, the fm facts tools reflect core management processes, so the software is working with the Gwent team, rather than expecting them to change the way they work. They use many of the system's advanced features and rely heavily on a combination of routine operational reporting and detailed strategic reports. They also take advantage of powerful features such as export, and communicate with most of their suppliers and requesters by email via the communication module.