Who should appoint AEs and APs?

Last month IHEEM held its 2019 AE Conference at Cranmore Park near Birmingham. Here one of the speakers, Authorising Engineer for specialist ventilation and water services, Andrew Poplett, explains how the assessment, appointment, and acceptance of key roles and responsible officers ‘can cause significant confusion and issues within the ever-changing organisational structures of both NHS and private healthcare providers’. He discusses the hierarchy of accountability outlined within the ‘core’ 00 Health Technical Memorandum, and provides an overview of the complexities and considerations which can be encountered in contracted-out or PFI estates service provision.

Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 00, Policies and principles of healthcare engineering, contains an outline on the recognised structure for the assessment, appointment, and acceptance of responsible roles which are defined in many of the Health Technical Memoranda within the NHS. The structure in Figure 1 appears very simple and straightforward; however in many cases it can require interpretation and cause confusion, and in extreme cases, if legal issues arise, could lead to significant problems and challenges for organisations. Chapter 3 of HTM 00 – Management and Responsibility, states in clause 3.3 that healthcare organisations have a duty of care to patients, visitors, and staff to ensure a safe and appropriate environment for healthcare. This requirement is identified in a wide range of legislation and common law. It goes on in clause 3.4 to state that at the most senior level within an organisation, this responsibility does not need to include technical, professional or operational duties, but the ‘Accountable Officer’ (see Figure 1) should have access to a structure that delivers governance, assurance, and compliance, through a formal reporting mechanism.

Clear understanding in PFI agreements