Basildon and Thurrock NHS Foundation Trust implements asset management solution to control £180 million asset base

Trust realises improved accuracy and inter-department workflow with integrated solution from Real Asset Management

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, one of the first NHS Foundation Trusts in the country and an associate teaching hospital, has ‘gone live’ with a fully integrated asset management solution from Real Asset Management (RAM), including Asset4000, Project4000 and Forecast4000. RAM’s solution enables the Trust to improve the accuracy of the asset register and forecasts, as well as facilitating greater communication and transparency with other departments in the Trust.

The Trust provides an extensive range of acute medical services at Basildon University Hospital and Orsett Hospital and St. Andrews, primarily serving the almost 400,000 population of Basildon and Thurrock in Essex. The Trust also serves some residents in the neighbouring districts of Brentwood and Castle Point; treating, in total, 63,000 inpatients and day cases, 270,000 outpatients and 90,000 A&E patients. The Essex Cardiothoracic Centre, opened in 2007, is amongst the most modern of its kind in the country, providing specialist diagnosis and treatment for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. The £180 million worth of assets consist of land, buildings and dwellings, medical equipment, IT systems and other equipment.

The implementation of the RAM system comes at a time when NHS Trusts are under increasing pressure to maximise efficiency, improve performance, cut costs, and promote transparency and accountability. Ian Child, Financial Controller at Basildon and Thurrock, comments, “It became clear that the old system couldn’t fulfil our requirements, as it simply logged assets and didn’t allow us to store sufficient information against them. It also didn’t have integration capabilities and importing and exporting vital information was difficult.”

Child continues, “The format of the RAM system is flexible, meaning that we can create new fields to suit our data input structure. Within each of these fields we have created lists to ensure that all information is entered uniformly. With Asset4000, we can make sure that sufficient information is listed against each asset, linking it in the parent/child relationship format where appropriate.”

As well as strengthening the asset register with Asset4000, the Trust has also invested in Project4000 and Forecast4000 to create a completely integrated management system. Child comments, “Project4000 allows us to process transactions directly from our financial package, iSOFT’s Integra Open Enterprise suite, avoiding the re-keying of data. The module then creates assets with full transaction history, rather than with just basic value and costs.”

Child adds, “Forecast4000 is instrumental in making planning easier. We have the ability to carry out an accurate forecast of depreciation which becomes very important when we are planning for depreciation of around £12 million annually.”

The centralised asset register has also helped Basildon and Thurrock improve inter-department workflow and communication. Child comments, “Although the Medical Equipment department utilises a different solution to suit its requirements, we use a number of fields within Asset4000 to create a link to its system, which helps us track the location of medical equipment assets, as well as the maintenance carried out. This undoubtedly saves a lot of time, and improves the flow of information.”

Commenting on the key benefits the Trust is realising using the integrated asset management system, Child adds, “The system helps us to do more with our time. More information is at our fingertips, so we can easily drill down into the detail. Importantly, the information is also accurate, streamlining processes. We can easily identify which assets are coming to the end of their life and inform the clinical team, improving overall communication.”

Child concludes, “The system is easy to use and meets all of our needs. We could not find another vendor that could offer the same functionality as RAM.”

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