Operational Management: A&E

You must assume the role of a client’s project manager. You have been appointed by a large NHS Trust in England to act as the client’s project manager to oversee a new refurbishment. This involves the design, construction and handover of a new Accident and Emergency Department (also known as A&E or ED). In order to establish an operations management brief you must be able to talk with conviction about what is needed in this space and how to structure the management of the planning and design process.  

You know that there will be significant design, construction and decant challenges that results from the complexity of the client’s business. The best place to start is to review the new National ED health building note called HBN 15.01 (DH, 2013) that describes the national standard for England. In addition, you can bring to bear your background experience of operations management (learnt from the ENVS2042 course). The combination of these (along with some background reading on ED operations management), will enable you to characterise the challenges. You must pull together a 1,000 word documents (about two pages), to be read by your manager (in a strategic project management consultant such as Capita or AECOM) and the design and supply chain. Many of the design and other construction professionals are unlikely to see issues and risks (as they have never worked in the healthcare sector).