Australia
NHS estates teams are collectively responsible for almost as much outside as inside space. According to a recent ERIC (Estates Returns Information Collection) report, the 216 reporting trusts between them own just over five thousand hectares of land – that’s an area almost the size of Bermuda. In addition to facilitating the smooth operation for patients and staff inside the built environment, managing the external hazards, assets and infrastructure presents a different set of unique challenges.
NHS land is a key asset in many ways. Much of it is taken up by the hospital buildings, and a significant amount of space is used to provide almost half a million parking spaces. In 2022-23, the cost of maintaining NHS gardens and grounds was almost £30m, but green space on healthcare sites has many benefits including speeding up post-surgery recovery, reducing the need for painkillers and improving the wellbeing of hospital staff.
Often the remaining space is simply the gaps between buildings, but this is still filled with a wide range of equipment and risks. Whilst not as asset rich as the indoor environment there is still a significant proportion to manage outdoors, not to mention points of interest such as infrastructure access points (such as manhole and access covers), tree preservation orders and potential hazards such as risk from falling trees or branches.
Structuring the Space
With so much square footage to manage, space management software like QFM Space is essential. Not only does it allow teams to visualise the whole estate, both indoors and outdoors, it also provides myriad tools for reporting, work planning, asset management and strategic decision-making.
Floor or site plans on QFM Space can easily be viewed on any browser from any location. Site plans can then be overlaid with additional data in the form of shading, textual overlays and icons, allowing almost limitless possibilities for recording and visualising data.
Some asset and maintenance software can only associate assets or work orders to “outside” of the nearest building, which can lead to an inaccurate or confusing record of asset locations. With QFM Space, locations can be defined or tagged on site plans allowing estates teams to create as many precise locations as required, to which assets, work requests and more can then be assigned.
Additional elements such as underground services can also be added so users can quickly and easily view points of interest such as manholes, linear assets such as gas and water mains, or tagged areas such as parking. QFM Space can also count or measure these additional elements, for example to find the total area of parking spaces (which are always at a premium at busy healthcare facilities) or to highlight and measure grassed or paved areas for maintenance.
For those Trusts with AutoCAD resource, these details can be added using the software and uploaded to QFM Space, but being able to add points of interest directly through the QFM Space web interface means no additional training or licences are required. This provides a highly efficient way of allowing estates teams to manage and maintain specific types of assets such as trees and external lighting.
Location, Location, Location
Being able to easily locate outdoor assets can save time and make planning work easier and more accurate. Maintaining detailed information about the wider estate as part of the space management system also helps estates teams make strategic decisions more easily.
Contact SWG to discuss how QFM Space can help you to manage the space within your portfolio.