In March 2012, Opex accepted a commission from John Laing Investments to undertake the role of Hospital Interim Technical Management Service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, London for the SPV. The role was to manage the Hard FM contractor and, in particular, monitor their work and ensure they met contractual and statutory compliance requirements and to also strengthen the management framework, processes, and documentation, including significant reshaping of technical auditing and client variations procedures.
Context
The hospital, which had been a military hospital, was substantially rebuilt and refurbished under a PFI and was opened in March 2001. The 33-year contract is run by Meridian Hospital Company (MHC) plc who has hard and soft FM operational contracts with Vinci and ISS Mediclean. The hospital provides 484 acute beds and 87 mental health beds.
Achievements
The QEH hospital is operationally a very challenging acute hospital which operates at or above full capacity, servicing the South London area. Over a 9-month commission, Opex provided an SPV Interim Technical Management Service, a full contract compliance audit, and undertook technical audits of the covering the following key systems:
- Electrical (HV/LV)
- Energy performance
- Fire safety
- Gas safety
- Lifting equipment
- Risk management
- Water management
Our technical work and support provided the client with a revised project control mechanisms which included new auditing and hard FM management systems to manage and monitor the hard FM delivery requirements.
At the same time, Opex took the reins on the day-to-day management of hard FM requirements and interfacing with the Trust. Finally, we helped ProjectCo to fill the permanent role of Technical Service Manager, training and mentoring new appointee.
To visit the Queen Elizabeth Hospital website click here.
Image: Paul W