Article from Healthcare Design and Management Magazine, January 2014
Virtus Consult has been contracted to manage a £4m energy sustainability project and provide support for a £70m investment programme at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT).
The programme is commencing as part of HEFT’s investment in energy cost and carbon savings across its portfolio through self-funded projects. It is expected to deliver annual savings of £632,000 with guaranteed energy cost and carbon reduction of around 12% through initiatives such as energy display meters, insulation, variable speed drives, refrigeration control, solar PV and lighting, pump replacement and AHU controls.
Having already overseen an extensive and complex procurement process, Virtus Consult will be overseeing the implementation of this programme, which is due for completion in March. Virtus was also successful in helping the trust obtain £2.8m towards the project in grant funding as part of the £50m allocated by the Department of Health in 2013-14 to improve energy efficiency, fund frontline care and reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS.
Due to commence later this year and continue over the next three to four years, HEFT’s investment in the further improvement of its estates through capital projects will see Virtus overseeing the completion of various refurbishment and new-build schemes including a range of hybrid, maternity and elective care facilities and associated amenities at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital and Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield.
In the past 12 months Virtus has overseen the completion of a number of other capital projects for HEFT including a new accident and emergency department, two new day case theatres and associated facilities for Good Hope Hospital costing a total of £7.6m, and a new pathology department for Birmingham Heartlands Hospital at a cost of £8m.
Virtus Consult director, Jan Ponsford, said “We are delighted to be supporting the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and its commitment to long-term investment in its portfolio. We are providing two different areas of specialism – energy reduction and capital projects. We have appointed several key personnel to assist in these new projects, including a senior project manager.”
