Tosca Fairchild is Chief of Staff for the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), a role that holds a large amount of responsibility and oversees many functions. Here she tells us about her role.
22 Mar 2023
We provide health services in more than 400 buildings across south east London.
There is a huge variety of health buildings including GP practices, mental health, community and of course the larger hospital sites. Our properties range in age, condition, style, and size.
The majority of our buildings are located outside main hospital sites. Some of our buildings are new and or refurbished but many properties are no longer fit for purpose. Some are in the wrong place or are difficult to adapt to meet future needs.
In addition, there is significant reform in health and social care in the way that services are designed and delivered. Much of this change is centred around first appointments and there will be more people working from GP practices including secondary care, social care and domiciliary and care staff. Our local GP practices are all working together in larger primary care networks (PCNs) to create efficiencies and better care.
For estates professionals this means the way in which buildings are being used is changing. We will support this, where possible with building design, adaptation and sustainability. We want to be able to provide modern, consistent, accessible, high quality joined up services from our buildings, limiting the need for travel, making them more accessible for people in wheelchairs or with other physical needs, and in locations that are easy to reach by public transport.
We are working together across organisational boundaries as providers and commissioners, local authorities, voluntary sector through our local estates teams, to find ways to make the very best use of our public estate. We want to make sure that, as far as possible, services are in the right place and in buildings that are big enough and flexible enough to accommodate integrated and coordinated health, care and other services; and best meet the needs of local communities, now and in the future.
We also have a duty to ensure value for money. We have some buildings which we could use better: for instance, where administrative and support staff are using vital clinical space. We have developed a guide and resource pack for providers to look at ways of introducing agile and remote working for staff – to free up space, bring care closer to home and improve working lives.
Examples of what we’ve done:
Akerman Health Centre in Lambeth, Sunshine House Child Development Centre in Southwark, Waldron Health Centre in Lewisham received investment from the NHS and councils which meant they could be utilised better. The various reconfiguration and refurbishment projects will improve both clinical, admin and communal space, and make the centres much better environments for both patients and staff.
We have a significant investment programme underway which includes new buildings, refurbishment, extensions but in some cases disposal and lease exists. Our new exciting developments include Tessa Jowell health centre in Southwark and the new mental health hospital in Denmark Hill, Douglas Bennett House Southwark.
New pipeline projects include a community diagnostic centre in Eltham, Greenwich and a new health centre in Albion Street in Bexley.
Further information
If you’d like to find out more about the work estates do or have any questions, contact us at planning@selondonics.nhs.uk.
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