Asset management and the opportunity for the NHS

Greg Markham BEng (Hons), CEng, FIHEEM, MIET, MIWFM, Estates & Assets director at Serco Health, and an IHEEM Past-President, argues for a more structured approach to healthcare asset management across the NHS, and reports on IHEEM’s plans to create a Framework, and associated tools and training, to provide the NHS (and all healthcare estate providers) with ‘a standard, repeatable, structured approach to managing the asset base’.

I’ve had a long career to date in healthcare engineering, initially within the NHS, and then across in the PFI service-provider sector, and while both operate healthcare facilities, and much is common between them, one key difference between the two approaches centres around the management of assets. Having been involved with PFI schemes from the early days, the journey has been an enlightening one; it was referred to as ‘Lifecycle’ as opposed to Asset Management, but I soon grew to understand the fundamental principles of risk, condition, and whole-life costs. Indeed I can recall, on my first PFI scheme, being in the enviable position of explaining why I hadn’t spent the full Lifecycle fund in Year 3, a stark contrast to the NHS approach of ‘We know you need £X capital, but this is all we can afford; spend it wisely.’, and the annual round of reporting an ever-growing backlog of maintenance. It may be approaching 20 years since I left the NHS, but from what I see of the ERIC returns, the backlog maintenance bill has continued to balloon, with current reported levels of £9 bn+.

The service’s third-largest expenditure