9 Jan 2018
The successful integration of CAFM software system fmfirst® estates and facilities with the Facilities Monitoring Tool (FMT) across the whole of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (GG&C) has seen significant operational improvements.
fmfirst® estates and facilities is now installed in all sites across the entire GG&C, forming one of the largest health sector CAFM software installations in Western Europe. New integration technology from Asckey now means that the FMT and fmfirst® estates and facilities are seamlessly combined, realising significant improvements in:
• Reporting accuracy with real-time data updates
• National service and cleaning standards compliance
• Communications between Estates and Facilities and Cleaning departments
• Cross-functional task allocation and monitoring for whole-site efficiency
When NHS Greater Glasgow and the Clyde area of NHS Argyll
and Clyde combined in 2006, the Board became one of the
largest health providers in Western Europe providing healthcare
services to over 1.2 million people and employing more than
40,000 staff.
By 2008 it was apparent that the existence of a large number
of legacy CAFM systems and multiple estates packages was
no longer sustainable. The newly formed board, NHS Greater
Glasgow and Clyde (GG&C), was using seven different CAFM
Estates Management Systems, all of which were heavily
paper based.
Following a full system review, it was recommended that
these seven systems where consolidated into one centralised
system to standardise data and provide a smarter, faster, more
efficient service to clients. The aim was to provide benefits in
both maintenance time and operational costs by eliminating
operating system incompatibilities and conflicting legacy data
that were creating inefficiencies and high operational costs.
The Board required the new system to perform a number of
essential functions:
• Remote notification of faults by users
• Access to live status updates of task completion by users
• Mobile functionality for managers and tradesmen to
improve site-wide control and data management
Essentially, the Board required a highly responsive, flexible
CAFM system that could bring together all key estates and
facilities tasks. It was important that the system selected was
reliable, web enabled and secure with controlled user access.
The review took into consideration an existing longstanding
relationship with the board and CAFM software developers
Asckey Data Services Ltd and their estates package fmfirst®
estates and facilities (formerly known as Eclipse-fm). The
fmfirst® product suite had already been in operation at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) and part of the Southern General
Hospital (SGH), since early 2011. The decision to expand the
use of fmfirst® across the whole of the newly formed Health
Board came about due to the systems targeted functionality,
reputation for reliability and robust user and system support.
Data migration
The logistics of mobilising such a large scale user base needed
careful consideration. The migration of all legacy data from
eleven separate installations over to fmfirst® was the next stage
of the process. The migration exercise, successfully managed
in conjunction with the Board and Asckey, involved extensive
data cleansing to ensure the accuracy of all information in the
database. This included over 100 locations, over 6,000 staff
records and the import of over 70,000 assets into the system.
Training
A system installation of this size required a carefully coordinated,
bespoke training programme for new users. Asckey’s training
team arranged a series of training sessions with staff across
all locations. Training covered all key areas such as Helpdesk
functionality, right through to full supervisor and administration
training including Mobile Task Management (MTM).
Phil Wright, Account Manager at Asckey said: “Representatives
from all locations attended to learn the system basics including
Help Desk, Staff Management, Asset Management and Mobile
Task Management. The majority of attendees found the course
allayed any fears about learning a new technology. They could
see first-hand how simple and intuitive fmfirst® was to use.
The session allowed trainees to interact with the software
and ask questions.”
“The delegates’ hard work paid off with all delegates
successfully completing the course which covered all essential
functionality. A stand-alone training system was made available
to all users for practice before moving to the live system”.
Each sector within the Board was allocated a super user
who represented the users and could be contacted with any
concerns or queries.
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ASCKEY Data Services Ltd.
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United Kingdom