An integrated decision support model for the sustainable refurbishment of hospitals and healthcare facilities: developing a prototype.

Wilson, Grant

Abstract

The National Health Service (NHS) is recognised as the largest public sector institution in Europe. This presents significant challenges in regards to operation and maintenance of the diverse built estate, and the ever-evolving clinical models of care. The economic downturn, and strict policy of austerity in the UK, presents limitations and challenges in capital investment. The majority of healthcare facilities which will be used throughout the 21st century, have already been built. This demands that solutions be found in the areas of asset maintenance and refurbishment. These challenges are complicated further, by the institutional and statutory requirements of the NHS to meet demanding sustainability targets. This in turn, is underpinned by exacting assessment methodologies and rating systems, and critically, an institutional duty to pursue and evidence that Value for Money has been achieved as far as reasonably practicable. The existing estate management tools were assessed by a process of triangulation, and the relevant decisionmakers and stakeholders from both the NHS and the Design Teams and Constructors were identified. The original contribution demonstrates the development of a novel decision support prototype which facilitates and improves the current decision making process. The prototype allows the integrated team to consider, evaluate, and agree, best-fit options in a measured, recordable, and replicable manner. Key to this process, is the ability to compare and rank often competing criteria, and to test the nonfinancial, and financial preferences by means of sensitivity analysis techniques. The research and the developed working prototype, were then tested and validated against an expert panel, on a broad scope of issues, ranging from Graphical User Interface aesthetics and usability, to functionality and applicability to the current standard business case process. The results of the testing and validation excercises were overwhelmingly positive.

Citation

WILSON, G. 2013. An integrated decision support model for the sustainable refurbishment of hospitals and healthcare facilities: developing a prototype. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jan 9, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 9, 2014
• Keywords: Hospitals; Refurbishment; Sustainability; Decisionmaking; MCDM; Capital Investment; NHS
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/920
• Award Date: Oct 31, 2013