EventMAP and QTS LLP engage with the London Estates Delivery Unit (LEDU), as part of the drive to Digitise NHS Estate
On 21st September 2021, EventMAP and QTS LLP met with partners of the London Estates Delivery Unit (LEDU). The purpose of the discussion was to develop our partnership with NHS Estates professionals as we grow our Digital Estates Facility Tool (DEFT) currently being used by some NHS Trusts in London.
DEFT is a suite of applications designed to assist estate teams to plan, manage and report against their resource use.
Healthcare providers are under ever increasing pressure. After years of reduced funding following the recent financial crisis, the NHS needs to find ways of working smarter, and digitalisation is at the forefront of public sector focus. Although healthcare was ringfenced, in real terms funding was constrained, especially with the pressure of ever-increasing demand. With a combination of the pandemic, the subsequent treatment backlog, and the drive to meet climate targets, the role of Estates and Facilities has never been more important or more difficult. Although the government is looking to come up with more money, any additional funds will take time to work through to front-line services, the problem is more immediate than that.
DEFT is a combination of tools, not only designed to form part of the drive to digitisation, but also to allow Trusts to analyse, report, then manage assets more effectively. Although it cannot magic up space for use out of nothing, it can accomplish the next best thing. In a variety of environments similar tools are being utilised to identify capacity, and then inform its re-purposing into other uses. In the near-term, Trusts need to manage aging resources in such a way that they can absorb the increasing pressures being placed on healthcare providers. Estate rationalisation really can make a difference, and having the data that facilitates our understanding and management of the estate, in terms of costs, area, usage, backlog maintenance, room and desk usage etc. facilitates this.
Our meeting was to help us develop and establish a working group of interested Trusts to inform the future development of the Digital Estates and Facilities Tools, to meet the growing challenges the sector faces.
If you would like to be part of this discussion, and join our working group, and become an early adopter of our DEFT applications, thereby having a share in fashioning this NHS application suite, please contact us by emailing vernon.chapman@nhs.net.
