Serco Health at Darent Valley has a 20 year PFI contract to deliver the estates services, which forms part of a large portfolio of vital healthcare services in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
The estates maintenance service output specification requires Serco to provide and maintain a service delivery method statement (Estates Maintenance Procedures) which details the operating standards and structure that will be used to meet the obligations of the contract.
The inherited contract Estates Maintenance Procedures was over 20 years old and required updating to reflect the current operational structure, changes in site configuration, services and current legislation. The updated Estates Maintenance Procedures manual would form part of a recalibration of the service performance measurement methodology.
To create an updated methodology, a full review of the service specification was undertaken to identify legislative and Health Technical Maintenance (HTM) procedural changes, and how they apply specifically to the assets and scope of services at the hospital. Location changes and reconfiguration introduced additional obligations. Changes in safe systems of work imposed further obligations and working procedure changes that required inclusion.
Applying HTM and SFG20 maintenance standards, engaging with the subject matter experts and authorised persons, a fully reworked Estates Maintenance Procedures manual was drafted and tested for commercial and technical compliance. Operational shift patterns and an updated roles and responsibility matrix were added to provide clarity of roles and the relationship between Serco and the client stakeholders.
The document changed from a 20 page to 250 page detailed method statement.
The contract has an updated method statement - Estates Maintenance Procedures manual, which is relevant to how the service is currently being delivered and has full operational ownership.
It enables realistic measurement of the service as it is now up to date with current legislation and working codes of practice.
