Project Services: NHS mental health services  

Through our Tier 1 facilities management client, phs Compliance self-delivered project services for the installation and commissioning of replacement emergency lighting to support one of two acute mental health community service centres within a large London NHS Foundation Trust. 

The project involved refurbishment of internal controls and batteries whilst retaining original casings. The Trust is the largest provider of mental health and substance misuse services to people living within several London boroughs, offering substance misuse and psychological therapies services, community mental health, recovery and rehabilitation, services for ageing and acute mental health, and substance misuse service.

Our engineering Team Leader provided weekly reporting for the project file and daily updates to our Project Manager, providing detail on delivery issues and rectifications as well as any product issues that needed to be resolved with the manufacturer. Due to access issues on site, the original phase two end date was extended by two weeks. 

With careful management from phs Compliance and despite the delay, phase 2 was successfully delivered in budget to the satisfaction of our Tier 1 client and their NHS customer. phs Compliance are proud to self-deliver all engineering and project management capability to clients and their customers.

A lighting consultant was engaged during tender preparation to work with the specified lighting manufacturer to determine the works required including fittings refurbished by replacing control gear and batteries whilst retaining original casings. The manufacturer also conducted surveys and produced drawings to identify locations and type so that the correct components were specified.

Unanticipated problems not apparent from the survey phase were encountered and overcome by phs Compliance. These issues included the suitability of parts for some fittings and cabling access between sections of the buildings via voids.Our experienced installation engineers supported by the lighting manufacturer found fast effective solutions to ensure the continued smooth progress of the project. This included the modification of various types of lighting units to accept and utilise the latest emergency lighting sub-assemblies. 

The same engineering team were employed to deliver phase two to apply lessons learned in phase 1 and avoiding potential delays in translation. Due to the value and complexity of phase two, our engineering resource was initially increased. This was to ensure that any building layout/fabric problems encountered in phase one could be overcome simultaneously to installations taking place. This was only actioned for a short period to allow our project team to stay on program and, with careful planning, avoid impacting total costs. Given the secure nature of building M layout, type of patients, extensive H&S management and security of equipment was an integral part of the working day for the engineers. So too was regular liaison with the on-site Tier 1 Engineering Manager who was active in enabling our access to secure areas.