NHS Property Services has announced that the NHS has saved £15 million so far thanks to the rationalisation of facilities management contracts. The streamlined contracts have been introduced to ‘improve the provision of FM services’ throughout the property portfolio of the NHS and will cut the number of suppliers from
The National Grid has said that it is confident of having the required power supplies to keep the lights on this coming winter, but only because of the introduction of emergency measures to avoid blackouts. The operator of the UK’s electricity transmission system has forecast that it will have enough
NHS Property Services has announced that the NHS has saved £15 million so far thanks to the rationalisation of facilities management contracts. The streamlined contracts have been introduced to ‘improve the provision of FM services’ throughout the property portfolio of the NHS and will cut the number of suppliers from more than 1,000 to less than 20, as well as reducing the amount of outsourced deals from 2,300 to 249. NHS Property Services Chief Operating Officer, Dennis Markey, said that this is a great achievement for their FM teams and will see significant cost savings for the NHS. He added: “By reducing the number of contractors we employ and setting a standard service specification, this process is already driving efficiencies for the NHS, with £15 million already saved and an expected total saving of £22 million by year end, which will be reinvested back into patient care.” Meanwhile, almost 1,000 staff have been TUPE transferred into NHS Property Services. In March, Mitie secured the £100 million hard FM services contract, where it will provide maintenance services and building fabric over the next three years. Of the 31 lots, Mitie secured 25 of them, while other successful bidders for hard services included Integral, which was recently acquired by commercial property services provider JLL for £226 million. Whereas the soft FM contracts were given to a series of firms, including Ideal Cleaning Services, Mitie’s security and pest control divisions, PHS Group and OCS. Earlier in the month it was revealed that the NHS is already starting to suffer from the side effects of the Brexit vote in terms of supplying and purchasing treatments and medications. After the EU referendum, the fall of the pound is having an alarming impact on the NHS’ purchasing of pharmaceuticals, which has left many patients waiting for, or without, the proper treatments.
The National Grid has said that it is confident of having the required power supplies to keep the lights on this coming winter, but only because of the introduction of emergency measures to avoid blackouts. The operator of the UK’s electricity transmission system has forecast that it will have enough power and predicts that the buffer between supply and demand in the winter months is likely to average around 5.5%, which is similar to last year’s margin, stating that this was “manageable.” However, without the spare capacity that power generators are paid to keep on standby, the margin would have been just 0.1%, along with a scheme to pay industrial users to cut demand during peak times. The National Grid has given lucrative contracts to a number of energy firms to keep mothballed coal fired power stations available to use at short notice as the electricity network in the UK has come under more and more strain. National Grid Director of UK Market Operations, Cordi O’Hara, said she was confident that the organisation is equipped with the right services and tools, including more power that can be called upon if needed for the highest demand periods. However, blackout fears have been increased by a number of major supply crunches caused by fires and breakdowns at power stations in the UK over recent years; however Hugo Chandler, a director at New Resource Partners, an energy consultancy service said that the National Grid deserved credit for ensuring that the system is strong enough to cope. Mr Chandler commented: “We are moving towards a decentralised, flexible grid with a diverse mix of generation capacity, and increasingly smart methods of balancing supply and demand.” However, the National Grid stated earlier in the week that the big new capacity sources were needed in the coming years to make sure that the UK has an adequate electricity supply.