CHP and NHSPS have jointly won the national One Team Award in the Government Property Awards 2021.
During the pandemic the two NHS property companies, owned by DHSC, worked together with NHSE&I, partners and suppliers to form a strong estates response. This joint approach enabled the NHS to establish the best estate solutions for each option as circumstances changed, working through occupation and finance arrangements flexibly to agree practical solutions. This included providing:
- Quarantine sites;
- 1,100 + additional beds;
- Modified primary care estate for hot and cold sites, including more than 11,500 additional FM service requests;
- Dynamic expert technical advice across NHS partners (e.g. modular buildings, planning, risk assessments and assurance).
This culminated in a ‘One Team’ approach delivering estate solutions for the vaccine programme – establishing 350+ vaccination sites and supporting the provision of millions of vaccinations.
The combined broad capability and capacity – including strategic asset management, delivery and FM – meant the two organisations were able to fully own speedy, effective end-to-end delivery, sharing resource, learning and expertise to meet clinician and patient needs.
The estate’s occupiers are effusive in their thanks … we have been called ‘Quite literally a life-saver!‘
This category in the awards attracted the most entries of any category so to win was particularly exciting for the whole team, who have worked so hard throughout the pandemic to support NHS colleagues and patients.
“This award is a testament to the hard work, commitment and expertise of both property companies and in particular to all of those front-line staff who demonstrated true commitment to ensuring that NHS services could continue to be provided to those who most needed them during a uniquely challenging year,“ said Dr Sue O’Connell, CEO of CHP.
“We pooled our resources to ensure that we supported an NHS which was dealing with unprecedented demand and I am truly proud of every person who played such a critical part in the battle against Covid 19. We are honoured to have this work and the importance of the estate to the health service recognised and we look forward to continuing building on our working relationship with our sister company for the benefit of patients, clinicians and communities.”
Simon Taylor, NHSPS Optimisation Portfolio Director, added: ‘It is wonderful to be acknowledged by the Government property profession with this award. We would like to acknowledge our colleagues at NHS England & Improvement and the wider NHS partners across the country who have brilliantly overseen the overall vaccine programme.
“As property companies working across primary and community care we have shown agility to rapidly adapt and optimise our estate throughout the pandemic, culminating in the support to the vaccine programme. The estate response across our companies, and the wider NHS, has been inspiring, and this has only been possible with strong collaboration and communication at all levels and a shared sense of purpose and urgency.
“Although pulling on all parts of our respective organisations, from my perspective this is a really an award for all our brilliant front-line staff who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic keeping our health estate safe, secure, and available and responding to constant change – they are hidden heroes.”
* CHP and NHSPS account for 15% of the NHS estate (c3,300 properties, c8,000 staff, including frontline FM services), and a focus on primary and community care estate.
27 April 2021
