County craftsmen help to enhance patient services

UHNM has launched a new digital estates management system to improve the way maintenance is carried out across both hospital sites. The 'micad' system enables workers to get live updates on job status and personal digital devices will dramatically cut the time it takes to complete maintenance requests.  County Hospital's team of estates craftsmen have led the way in adapting to the new system and have been given the 'Team of the Month' award in recognition of their hard work and willing attitude.

Louise Jenkins, Transformation Projects Manager, said: "Staff are now responsible for registering themselves on the new portal and logging their own maintenance and new works requests. Now they can receive new jobs whilst out and about on site, saving them valuable time. The launch of this system has been hugely successful, but only as a result of the relentless hard work of this team. They have worked extremely hard over recent weeks to get the system up and running and have taken every task asked of them in their stride. They really supported one another as a team, making the transition between the old and new system as smooth as possible and I am very proud to have worked with them all. It's not easy to have someone come in and tell you how to work differently and change what you have been doing for a number of years, but they have been really engaged throughout the whole process, which has been fantastic and has made life easier for everyone. True teamwork in action!"

The system also provides a more interactive system for supervisors, who can ensure the correct tradesmen are allocated to the appropriate jobs.

Barry Deacon, Senior Estates Manager, said: "Change is a challenge in itself so, when it comes to change in the way we have operated every day for many years, it is far easier to be negative and resistive to that change. Estates Operations work in a challenging environment so, the effort and commitment required to implement a major change such as the micad system must not be underestimated. The team at County have worked collaboratively to not only be committed to the change but have engaged in a way that gives us every opportunity to be successful and enable the team to have a better way of working which will bring future benefit to the trust and its patients."