Siemens Healthcare Services claims clear market leadership with seventh PFI project ( I am so proud of working in this project )
Siemens Healthcare Services (SHS) has signed a 33-year managed equipment service agreement with the consortium responsible for the design and construction of Queens hospital in Romford – part of the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust.
SHS will provide all medical equipment, from imaging equipment, such as MRI and CT scanners, to patient monitoring systems, anaesthetic machines and syringe pumps for the New Romford Hospital. The managed service will provide initial equipment, as well as future equipment replacements according to known and agreed lifecycles.
In addition, all equipment is fully maintained and managed throughout the term of the contract. An intrinsic part of the maintenance service is the provision of an Electro Biomedical Engineering Department, including the TUPE of the Trust employees who currently deliver the service.
As well as the Managed Equipment Service for medical equipment, Siemens Healthcare Services will also provide a solution for the telephony infrastructure which will be delivered by Siemens Communications. This service provides a full telephony solution including DECT cordless phones with full replacement of the equipment throughout the term.
This latest managed equipment services contract – Siemens Healthcare Services’ seventh in the UK – reinforces the company’s clear leadership in this market.
Five similar contracts are already in operation at Wishaw Hospital (Scotland), Barnet Chase Farm Hospital, Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Dudley Hospital and Airedale Hospital. A further contract was also been signed at Blackburn Hospital in July 2003 for a Managed Equipment Service for imaging equipment and PACs.
Peter Harrison, Managing Director of SHS says, "We are delighted to have been selected to provide a managed equipment service in support of this exciting new hospital build project. This service will enable the Trust, through Catalyst Healthcare, to leverage a special relationship with Siemens that will ensure a high quality, high value service. This will incorporate provision and service of up-to-date medical and communications equipment, which will benefit clinicians and the patient community alike."
The New Romford Hospital will be an 859-bed acute hospital for Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust, under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Construction of the new hospital started in July 2003 under an Interim Works agreement and is due for completion at the end of 2006.
Located at Oldchurch Park in Romford, the new hospital will bring together the services provided at the Harold Wood and Oldchurch hospitals at a single site – giving the community the best of the facilities to provide the highest standards of care.
The Catalyst Healthcare (Romford) Limited consortium comprises Bovis Lend Lease, Bank of Scotland and Sodexho. Bovis Lend Lease will design and construct the new hospital and will be responsible for the lifecycle of the structure and major components. Sodexho will provide hard and soft facilities management services including catering, domestic services and portering, together with lifecycle responsibility for internal areas.
Fact file:
Year one investment in medical equipment will be ￡6.5 million, with an average investment thereafter of ￡1.8 million.
All financial, technical, maintenance and clinical criteria are meticulously evaluated. Choice of new equipment for the new hospital will be finalized in August 2005 to ensure that items to the latest specifications are ordered. Siemens will harmonize these objectives with the huge logistical operation involved in ordering 2,400 items of equipment while making sure the site can go into operation on the specified day.
Managing equipment through the transition period is vital to ensure the new hospital can open on time. SHS can also decommission and transfer existing medical equipment from the old to the new hospital. This fits in with the construction program, and ensures the Trust’s decant program can be achieved.
After commissioning, the Managed Equipment Service provided by SHS will be managed by the Operations Team. Siemens is responsible for all equipment provision, management and maintenance once the hospital is operational. This includes asset purchase, registration, comprehensive tracking and monitoring of the status of equipment and a program of preventative maintenance.
First-line maintenance will be provided on site by Siemens’ managed service technicians, based at a workshop adjacent to the operating theatres. Technicians can be reached quickly via a bleep system and a rota will provide engineering cover outside the standard working day.
Through the strong partnership between Siemens, the Catalyst Consortium and the Trust, Siemens’ state-of-the-art services and equipment will assist in improving service delivery in the new hospital.
The medical and telephony equipment will promote clinician and patient satisfaction by improving service response times and facilitating a swift response to patients with life-threatening conditions. The vision of Siemens Healthcare Services is to assist the Trust by providing high-quality equipment, services and systems that improve the quality of healthcare for patients, healthcare professionals, managers and policy-makers.
Siemens' equipment and managed services are key to achieving better health for our clients and have obvious potential for improving healthcare delivered in the community.
Siemens Medical Solutions is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcare industry in the world. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting, and support services, to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. From imaging systems for diagnosis, to therapy equipment for treatment, to hearing instruments and beyond, Siemens innovations contribute to the health and well-being of people across the globe, while improving operational efficiencies and optimising workflow in hospitals, clinics, home health agencies and doctors' offices. Employing approximately 31,000 people worldwide and operating in more than 120 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 7.4 billion EUR, orders of 7.8 billion EUR and group profit of 1,12 billion EUR for fiscal 2003. For more information please contact: Mike Bell Siemens Medical Solutions T: 01344 396317
Siemens core business is the provision of “high tech” products within a wide portfolio of applications. In order to address changing market drivers and meet customer expectations, there is now an emphasis on the delivery of technology-related solutions and services. Siemens Healthcare Services (SHS) was established in 1995, as a separate business unit within Siemens to identify and develop new business solutions to address the long-term technology needs of the National Health Service (NHS). More information can be found in Managed Technology Services (MTS)
Information obtained from www.siemens.co.uk/medical News released 01 March 2004
Romford Queen's Hospital
Romford can’t believe its luck. The Essex town’s new hospital is a 939-bed giant with a state-of-the-art cancer centre and a compact four-leaf clover layout that helps staff to save lives.
It’s a monster. The NHS’ latest PFI super-hospital weighs in at 4,511 rooms and contains 939 beds, which is nearly twice as many as the average district general. And all this is fitted into a 96,500m2 building that cost Bovis Lend Lease an economical £211m to build.
How they did it
The Queen’s Hospital in Romford was a procured as a £261m PFI project that included design, construction and continuing hard and soft facilities management over 36 years. The contract was awarded to Catalyst Healthcare, which is 50% owned by Bovis Lend Lease, 25% by Uberior Infrastructure Investments and 25% by Sodexho Investment Services.
The 96,500m2, 4,511-room hospital was built for £211m, or a far-from-exorbitant £2,250/m2. The 39-month contract involved up to 1,100 people working simultaneously and was completed last October four days early, says Tony Velupillai, Catalyst’s general manager for the hospital. This was despite radical modifications to the design during construction to include an extra 60-bed ward and a coronary care unit. The changes were paid for out of a variation bond set up in the initial contract and entailed a second design team working with the original team.
Sodexho is responsible for hard and soft facilities management through about 450 directly employed staff. As well as building maintenance, this includes managing hospital services, but medical equipment is serviced by Siemens under a separate contract worth £6.5m a year.
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