Utilising information

For many health facility managers, the everyday pressure of the job means that taking full advantage of the plethora of information available to them becomes a daunting task. Much data is collected during the normal processes of managing the facility and the workforce. However, this is often used solely for the purposes of progress chasing and financial reporting, as well as the statutory requirements of reporting to the centre for ERIC or similar annual returns. Making real use of the information and key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be distilled from this data can be a positive contributor to service improvement and thus to the patient experience.
    
The Healthcare Facilities Consortium (HFC) - through its Benchmarking Club and the active user groups of the NHS derived software products in its care - is uniquely placed to provide support to facilities managers who wish to develop their information usage and drive service improvement. At a recent user group of the Credits for Cleaning (C4C®) software1 a number of the organisations using this package reported how they have been using the information reports to assist them in improving their cleaning services. Below are two examples of how this can have a very real effect for those looking after healthcare facilities.
    
Example 1: An organisation had set up their cleaning schedules within the database and reviewed the reported costs for a new building that was being commissioned. The management team were able to prove the projected costs of cleaning services to the standards laid out in the NHS Cleaning Manual. These were then presented to the management board for funding so that an appropriate cleaning service could be provided from day one of the new building’s use.
    
Example 2: The collection of monitoring data through PDAs allowed an organisation to identify the key areas where they had problems. They reported that by adjusting their work schedules, they were able to improve the standard of cleaning in these areas while still ensuring there was no drop-off in service to other areas.

Health Facilities Scotland
A proven Monitoring Module in the C4C® software has enabled the HFC and its product partner Pierce Management Services to develop an interface to the Health Facilities Scotland Monitoring Toolkit. In late 2007, Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) formally approved this.
    
Data collection using a PDA is undertaken in the normal way and uploaded into the C4C® database where it can be reported on through the wide range of standard C4C® reports. The monitoring data can then be extracted into the correct format for the HFS Monitoring Toolkit from which the central returns are made. This avoids the need for time-consuming re-entry of data and the possibility of re-entry errors. Analysis of the resulting Scotland-wide reports is then posted on the HFS website providing a public reinforcement of the effort being made to keep our hospitals clean and safe for patients, visitors and staff alike.

Benchmarking uses
Benchmarking can be proactively used to identify performance in comparison with others, to scope the potential for improvement of that performance, and then to provide insights into better practice on how to deliver the improvements. The HFC BM Club helps healthcare facilities managers understand the information and indicators that can be extracted from their own data. Statutory returns (like ERIC) can link them up with other similar organisations and help them establish a programme of review and improvement.
    
Benchmarking exercises have several common features and difficulties: deciding what and how to compare; the achievement of comparability through validation; and how to interpret the results. It is important to establish clear definitions of terminology that are useful to NHS Trust facilities directors and managers for describing, evaluating and planning facilities activities.
    
The information provided should be driven from the bottom up, easily comparable with other organisations, and a computer database of information maintained for reference. There must be a continued process of establishing meaningful information and key indicators, which will lead to accepted benchmarks and standards.

Benchmarking benefits
HFC benchmarking information allows healthcare organisations to analyse clinical and non-clinical directorates in relation to their use of space and facilities services. It also allows facilities directors to have robust benchmarks and information for strategic planning purposes. Benefits include:

• Increases awareness of what is done and how well it is done.
• Helps set credible performance targets.
• Helps identify what to change and why.
• Can significantly reduce waste and duplication.
• Helps identify training needs.
• Encourages networking and sharing of best practice.

The HFC Benchmarking Club is run primarily by using the data from the ERIC system and so has no additional data entry or collection requirement (for organisations in England and Wales). Managed in conjunction with CPA Solutions, who can provide a range of additional support and consultancy services to assist healthcare organisations in making the most of their information for strategic planning proposes, the Club is a membership service of the HFC.

Notes
1. Credits for Cleaning (C4C®) was commissioned from HFC by the Department of Health to assist with the monitoring and management of cleaning services on healthcare premises.

For more information
Healthcare Facilities Consortium
Tel: 01902 765620
Email: info@hfc.org.uk