PARANOMASIA

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CHAPTER 4

CURRENT PRACTICE

The conclusions and statements stated below are draw n from the interview s sum m arised in Appendix D. The num ber o f organisations studied was statistically too small to be

considered fully representative o f the individual sectors, w ith the possible exception o f Private H ealthcare. The resultant conclusions may be skewed by the individual

circumstances o f the cases studied.

4.1 S pace S ta n d a rd s

7 o f the 8 organisations studied had recognised space standards in addition to statutory requirements. T he eighth (B) had an approach w hich generally required reprovision to be no greater than existing arrangem ents.

The use o f post-occupation standards w as less form alised than pre-occupation in all cases reflecting the increased need for com prom ise on physical and personnel issues once

dealing w ith real rather than theoretical elements. Standards w ere considered to be largely "reasonable" and usually at least 3 - 5 years old w ith an expectation o f slow change.

Estate records w ere all kept centrally and w ithin the year w ould all be CA D based. The benefits o f I.T. based systems w as universally recognised as an aid to space m anagem ent and recharging.

4.2 A u d it

Com m ercial organisations proved to be m ore likely to carry out space audits. This was usually via the annual business review process rather than visiting areas and recording usage. Detailed space audits appeared to be limited to specific projects rather than a central knowledge o f utilisation levels being used to bring about im provem ent. Central m anagem ent was on a "hands o f f basis w ith space being a neutral issue unless

profitability was suffering.

All Healthcare groups reported increased activity levels reflected in a higher headcount whereas most office users w ere reducing personnel numbers.

4.3

Utilisation

Pressures on levels o f space utilisation w ere generally expected to increase at organisational level but at a departm ental level, the office sector w as expected to be constant - possibly reflecting overriding operational pressures to m aintain existing provisions.

Cost im provem ent proved to be the m ost im portant factor stim ulating space utilisation, w ith rising workload driving change in public healthcare as they tried to provide additional capacity to m eet dem ands caused by G overnm ent initiatives.

Tim e utilisation in the healthcare sector w as expected to continue to increase. 12-hour days, 6 days per w eek were expected to be the practical lim it o f tim e utilisation. Existing senior medical staff were unw illing to extend their N .H .S tim e from tw o sessions, 4.5 days per week but new appointees will have to sign up to different w orking patterns. Patients were also expected to be unw illing to accept routine treatm ents during anti-social hours. 50% utilisation for 6 days per w eek (43% overall) will therefore becom e the limit for non ward areas.

N egative aspects o f increased utilisation levels were noted as higher m aintenance and managem ent costs. These costs were not considered to be funded w hen schedules w ere expanded and quality was detrim entally effected.

4.4 P la n n in g fo r C h an g e

The only organisations w ith estate strategies were the tw o N .H .S. trusts and they were required to have one by the D epartm ent o f Health. Planning w as generally on an inform al basis and responded to situations as they arose w ithout form al arrangem ents to address unexpected change. H ealthcare was able to plan further ahead than Offices. This was attributed to long lead tim es for new technologies.

A study by Ernst & Y oung in 1993 identified that although occupiers o f space w ere the long term drivers o f the property market, the m ajority had no coherent strategy for identifying their requirem ents, e.g. a property strategy or prem ises policy. (1)

Organisations tended to be driven by external factors w hich could not be justified in a rigorous exam ination o f the decision process.

4.5 Space M a n a g e m e n t

Overall configuration and reallocation o f space was m anaged v ia in-house F.M. / Estates groups with the exception o f the City Hospitals trust w hich w as undergoing large scale redevelopm ent and w here space is being controlled by central m anagem ent. A t a departmental level, everyone used the F.M. / Estates group for advice.

The H ealthcare sector felt that space utilisation m anagem ent w as either localised or non­ existent; contrasting w ith the O ffice sector w ho used F.M . / Estates input. This correlates strongly with space charging systems, public healthcare being the only group not to charge on an area occupied basis w ithin 12 months. Everyone else charged at departm ental level and some charged individual groups within departm ents as separate cost centres.

4.6

Ability to respond to change.

Recent changes were considered to have been largely "partially expected" (50% ) or "foreseen" (37%). One private sector healthcare group felt that change w as always

foreseen because even though it w as unexpected at the first o f its thirty-eight sites it could then be planned for at the rem aining thirty-seven. The tim e available to respond to such change would however, not be very long.

Both public sector healthcare m anagers felt they w ould like to keep 2 - 4% o f their area available to allow for change. This w as linked to their needs for decanting space to refurbish wards as whole units. (If considered as part o f a continuous program m e, such decanting space would not be considered to be unused). They w ere also m indful that capital w ould be unlikely to be available to fund additional space w hen dem ands arose. Thus it was better to keep space in reserve. In reality they had either 0% or I -2% available.

M anagers generally wanted to theoretically keep m ore space in reserve than they did in practice. The office sector held m ore space in reserve than healthcare.

The question posed in section 1.2, "W hat level o f (over)capacity do organisations consider desirable...." was answered, not linked to the m arket being operated w ithin, but rather the sector, The public sector com pensated for slow financial responses by planning on a longer term basis. This was helped by longer lead tim es from their client bodies, central and local government, com pared w ith the private sector.