Artic Building Services has been awarded a three-year planned preventative maintenance contract covering HVAC equipment at the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.
An approved supplier of HVAC contracted services to the trust for a number of years; under the new contract, which follows a competitive tender process, it will ensure works are carried out in a planned fashion, but with the ability to adapt and change to accommodate the needs of the site, even at the last minute.
An Artic spokesman said: “In the current economic climate, we are all aware of the increasing pressure on NHS trust budgets and the need for commercial competitiveness, and cost control has never been greater.
“Any service provider to the NHS must balance cost competitiveness with delivering the highest-quality service level.
“And long and consistent experience in the healthcare industry enables us to find that balance, successfully win competitive tenders, and realise industry-leading levels of service.”
Any service provider to the NHS must balance cost competitiveness with delivering the highest-quality service level
At the centre of any service contract for the NHS is the requirement to ensure services continue to operate in a 24/7 live environment.
“Through experience gained over many years in the healthcare industry, a team of engineers was assigned to the contract with the right skillsets for the range of HVAC equipment covered,” said the spokesman.
“Significant previous experience of working on central London NHS sites was crucial.”
All engineers working on the hospital sites are fully conversant with the enhanced regimes of HTM guidelines, most particularly those of HTM03-01 concerning critical heating and ventilation of health sector buildings.
And formal training has been undertaken and extended to ensure the engineers are capable of maintaining and servicing all HVAC equipment across the two hospitals.
The importance of cost control for the trust is addressed through a dedicated contract management and administration team. With this set-up, a robust and comprehensive planned preventative maintenance (PPM) plan was developed during the contract mobilisation phase, in full consultation with trust’s estates and localised department staff.
“With engineers constantly in central London, Artic can respond to emergencies at the hospitals within very-short timespans by diverting residential engineers from other sites to the hospitals in the event of a significant problem,” said the spokesman.
“Artic also has established central London parts support hubs where parts are held for a range of HVAC equipment and can be sourced for reactive and repair work even outside of normal working hours.”
