Minister stresses importance of design at 2010 Healthcare Conference
The Scottish Healthcare Conference 2010, focussed on “Delivering Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare” was opened by Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health and Sport. The conference, run by Health Facilities Scotland and NHS Scotland, was widely attended by representatives from NHS Boards, supporting organisations and companies and included seminars on efficiency, responsibility, innovative processes and promoting design and quality in procurement.
Ms Robison reflected on the reduced capital funding available in the future, and the need to ensure that new and upgraded healthcare facilities were appropriately designed to promote health now and in the future, through increased focus on the new Policy on Design Quality, supported by HFS, A+DS and the SGHD. She stressed that with less investment going forward, investment must be prioritised towards business cases where its operational impact was made explicit.
She praised the boards which had had responded to this agenda and achieved award winning buildings in the last year, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde whose emphasis on design quality in projects such as the multi award winning Stobhill Hospital led them to be shortlisted for RIBA Client of the year. She emphasised the need to co-ordinate the resources in estates departments with “board level buy-in” to deliver this level of success.
Ms Robison then presented the NHSScotland Environment, Estates and Facilities Awards 2010, including the Design award and overall Paul Taylor award to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for Renfrew Health and Social Work Centre. The Facilities Innovation award was presented to NHS Lothian for the Legionella control systems at the Royal Victoria and the Energy and Environment award to NHS Ayrshire for the environmental impact reduction measures in the design of the new Girvan Community Hospital.