National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day
21 June is National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day, which is the perfect opportunity for us to recognise the essential work of our Capital, Estates & Facilities (CEF) workforce and their role in the delivery of our services.
We are proud to be supporting this awareness day celebrating the essential work of all Estates & Facilities professions and the value this gives to patients and staff across the Trust’s footprint and from over 100 buildings. We have over 300 staff across our Capital, Estates and Facilities teams at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH).
Watch a video of our teams!
National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day was launched last year and is marked annually on the third Wednesday in June.
To celebrate the second National Estates and Facilities Day, combined with a well deserved thank you to our teams, a key part of the programme of GMMH’s events, on Wednesday 21 June, will be an open-air service on the Prestwich site. The service will highlight the variety of skills and knowledge within CEF teams - from porters to cleaners, reception staff to caterers, project teams to security and more - who keep healthcare buildings operational, day-in day-out, supporting staff to provide the very best patient care.
Back to the floor sessions kicked off the festivities early with senior leaders working in various areas across the directorate as part of the initiative and to personally thank staff for the work they do to keep our environments safe and clean and our services operational. Senior leaders got involved with cooking patient meals, operating the telephone switchboard, cleaning, transport, laundry, fire safety and managing medical equipment.
A floral installation has been planted to mark the day and Capital, Estates & Facilities teams will be celebrated on the day with cake deliveries to share with the various teams.
Nicola Dalton, Service User Representative for GMMH, said: “When I was an inpatient you don’t realise unless you can’t leave that building how fundamental some of these things are to your care. Your bedroom, your curtains, if your window doesn’t open and the intensity of these issues to inpatient care and how that is managed. People do look at all of this and realise how important this is. It plays a massive part to the delivery of care as staff can’t provide good care unless they are in the right environment.”
Neil Thwaite, Chief Executive at GMMH, said: “Facilities and Estates teams are really vital in the organisation as without their support, whether it’s in gardening, catering, switchboard, estates, cleaning, we wouldn’t be able to provide great care. A massive thank you to our Capital, Estates and Facilities teams for the fantastic work they do. They’re the backbone of the organisation and they help us to provide great care.”
Marc Reed, Associate Director of Capital, Estates and Facilities at GMMH, said: "It’s important to recognise the services that are delivered through Capital, Estates & Facilities because they are essentially the lifeblood of the organisation which quite often go unnoticed but are vital to the delivery of patient care. Producing meals, maintaining hospital environments, cleaning, supporting the transport of patients, ensuring power comes through to each building – there is an enormous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and it’s important to celebrate these essential services and say thank you.”
National Estates and Facilities Day showcases and recognises the essential work of Estates and Facilities teams, raises the profile of the professions, the vital role they do and supports recruitment into and sustainability of these professions into the future.
For more information about National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day, please visit the website: www.healthcareEFMDay.org
Follow the day on Twitter using the hashtag #HealthEFMDay
