Mobilising NHS Nightingale With CAFM

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13 May 2021

FSI and Interserve Group worked together to ensure the team at NHS Nightingale Hospital North West had a CAFM solution they could rely on at a crucial time.

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK and globally resulted in unprecedented changes and countermeasures to meet this challenge head-on. One of these key measures was Project Nightingale, an NHS initiative that mobilised seven temporary critical care field hospitals to specifically treat patients affected by COVID19. 

As part of this ground-breaking project, the team at Interserve Group was approached by the NHS to implement a fully functioning CAFM system to manage the wide range of tasks, people and day-to-day duties at the NHS Nightingale North West Hospital in Manchester.

A total of 400 Interserve colleagues were hired to carry out crucial services including electrical maintenance, waste disposal, cleaning, catering and portering services. 

 

“They [FSI] really brought their A-Game, they had all their top people working on the project from start to finish”

–Clare Banks

Head of Business Change, Interserve

 

Mobilising NHS Nightingale Hospital North West in Under Two Weeks

 

It would normally take a minimum of three months to stand up a CAFM system of this nature – however, the hospital was opening its doors to patients within two weeks. Furthermore, due to social distancing measures, their team had to meet this deadline while working remotely. Faced with this monumental challenge, they got in touch with FSI.

As a longstanding CAFM supplier for Interserve across multiple projects, this established relationship was critical in overcoming the tight deadlines the teams were faced with.

As noted, one of the most pressing challenges was setting up a fully capable CAFM system in a fraction of the time it would typically take. 

Cutting down this mobilisation time was the combination of several important factors. Firstly, in response to the initial signs of the COVID-19 outbreak, FSI brought together their Knowledge Group and other specialists to map out a consistent set of health instruction sets to cover all healthcare scenarios that this pandemic may present. They were then able to provide a free, purpose-built SaaS deployment of their core CAFM/IWMS solution.

This early work meant FSI were in a position to immediately supplyInterserve with any and all modules they required to meet their demands with no need for customisations, which greatly reduced lead-in times. 

The range of services this system was built to meet include (but not limited to): 

 

• Reactive tasks
• Portering
• Cleaning
• Catering
• Space management
• Admin-on-demand
• Integrated Service Module (ISM) 

 

FSI offered all modules required completely free of charge (with the exception of a minimum third party cost). 

“They [FSI] really brought their A-Game, they had all their top people working on the project from start to finish”, said Clare Banks, Head of Business Change at Interserve.

“The system was set up as a standalone hosted system for NHS Nightingale North West as they did not want to risk it being on a shared platform as we needed the flexibility to change. They offered 24/7 support and – like us – worked around the clock.” 

 

Frequent Changes to Layout and Configuration 

 

As well as the tight deadline, Interserve also had to contend with frequent changes to the layout and configuration of the NHS Nightingale Hospital North West itself. New information and alterations were arriving on a daily basis as the pandemic progressed, so it was critical that the system they employed was flexible in meeting these ever-evolving demands. 

To best support Interserve in managing this project, FSI took ownership of configuring the system and adapting it in accordance with any changes. Following this, testers at Interserve would verify that the system fulfilled the needs of this unique environment. 

In addition, they provided Interserve access to their out of hours support service free-of-charge to give reassurance that any issues that emerged post-launch would be resolved swiftly. 

 

Managing "The Red Zones"

 

A final unique challenge that Project Nightingale presented was the use of "red zones" within the building. These are highly controlled and hazardous zones, where staff would be required to wear PPE at all times and take extra precautions around infected patients. As such, it would not be feasible for people who access these areas to utilise FSI's mobile workforce apps. 

To help overcome this challenge, FSI first implemented a Live View module to provide a clear, colour-coded layout of the building. This allows users to identify the red zones as well as offer any further important locational information. 

In addition, to meet the issue of staff not being able to use smartphones in these zones, a mix of mobile and radio devices was employed to ensure cross-contamination didn’t take place within the facilities. The team also altered the implementation of our mobile solutions to simplify the workflow, including some configuration at FSI's own cost. 

 

IWFM Impact Awards

 

By pulling together with the team from Interserve, FSI was able to rapidly mobilise a purpose-built CAFM solution for the NHS Nightingale North West Hospital within the narrow deadline set.

Taking into account the speed in which the project had to be completed, the setup was seamless and ongoing maintenance costs have remained low. In addition, there have been no speed or downtime issues. Off the back of this success, Interserve won at the IWFM Impact Awards 2020, in the ‘Workplace Experience: Non-Office / Corporate Environment’ category. 

Picture: a photograph of a hospital theatre

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 13 May 2021

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