Welcome to the next monthly update from the National Asset Management Plan (NAMP) team. Work on the project is progressing well with the deadline of September rapidly approaching (that’s when we’re due to give our initial report to joint Ministers).

This update covers:

1. Work completed so far with an update on the on-site assessments, critical facilities fitness for purpose assessment, and HAMI meeting;
2. Current project priorities and how you can assist us with seismic information, and DHB self-assessment of buildings.

1. Work to Date

On-site assessments

We completed the last building and clinical facility on-site assessment on 13 June with a visit to Waikato Hospital. This marked the end of 10 weeks of travel for Leigh and Rose from the team, and Beca and ChowHill. A site-wide infrastructure visit to Wairarapa DHB will be the last infrastructure on-site assessment.

The visits have given the team a wealth of information. This will now be analysed ahead of the findings being shared with individual DHBs. It will inform the report on the current state of health assets which is due to go to joint Ministers in September.

Critical facilities fitness for purpose assessment complete

Rose from the team and ChowHill representatives conducted on-site assessments to understand how fit for purpose the clinical facility environment is for delivering current models of care.

The focus was on the physical aspects of facilities rather than other clinical issues, such as workforce or resourcing.

As there were more clinical services than the team had the time or resources to assess, we decided the first assessment phase would focus on the emergency patient pathway in buildings over 20 years old. This included, the ED, operating theatres, intensive care units, and a typical inpatient ward.We also assessed adult mental health inpatient units in buildings over 10 years old.

Basing their questions on the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines, the team captured basic metrics such as the number of beds, bathrooms, and operating suites.

They also explored the nine health facility evidence based design principles. There was a slight variation on the questions, depending on the service being assessed.

Each assessment took two hours. Rose from the team acknowledges this was an onerous task to set up as well as a large investment of clinicians’ time.

“We received amazing support from everyone who arranged the meetings and sent us back beautiful schedules accommodating our requirements.

“A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to meet with us. The engagement and openness on the information provided was exceptional,” says Rose.

In total 79 critical facilities fitness for purpose assessments were conducted. What stood out for the team, was how the clinical teams are the heart of their services, irrespective of their often challenging environments.

Health Asset Management Improvement (HAMI) meeting

Earlier in June, 17 members of HAMI representing 11 DHBs from around the country met in Wellington. They were given an overview of the NAMP on-site building assessment process and the self-assessment tool.

There was also an interesting presentation from Bill Brander of EECA on energy efficiency in the health sector. An earthquake guide prepared by Kestral group was also shared.

The presentations have been sent to all HAMI participants (even those who didn’t attend).

Ask your DHB representative if you’re interested in receiving more information on this. If you’re not sure who your rep is, or would like to be part of HAMI, contact: [email protected]

2. Current project priorities

On-site assessments feedback

With the on-site assessments finished, the team is working through all the data collected. We plan to share the key information from the building and infrastructure assessments. 

You’ll appreciate it’s a lot of data, and it will take us a few weeks to go through it.  We intend to ensure the information is shared in a common framework.

Seismic update

A decision has been made to take a more comprehensive view of earthquake risk and integrate this into the NAMP. 

A request went out to CEOs, CFOs, and facilities managers on 11 June, requiring information on all buildings, not just earthquake prone buildings.

Two additional questions to the regular return have been added:

• Did the earthquake assessment consider service restraints?
• Is there a programme of works for service restraint to reduce risk?

This information, along with the CEO assurance is due by 30 June 2019. It needs to be sent to: [email protected]

In addition, as part of the NAMP, reports and structural information on around 100 high profile buildings will be reviewed by Beca’s structural engineers. 

This will help us to understand the structural resilience of buildings as opposed to life safety. Copies of the ISA or DSA for these buildings will be requested by the team in the next couple of weeks.

DHB self-assessments of buildings

As we mentioned last month, the next phase of the NAMP is a self-assessment of buildings which were not part of the on-site assessments. 

An email was sent to facility managers with log-on details to the application tool. Pease note, this information is due by Friday 12 July.

Beca are managing the application tool on the Ministry’s behalf. They are providing system support for issues and log-ons, contact: [email protected] 

For any queries on the process, email Leigh from the team: [email protected]

Once these assessments are completed we will have a good overview of the DHB owned estate. This information will then be used to populate the Health Asset Register Tool (HART).

Key dates

Just a reminder of the key dates coming up for the project:

Look out for our next monthly update, and please contact the team if you have any questions, email: NAMP@health.govt.nz

Your continued support of the work that the NAMP team is doing is appreciated.