3.11.1 The equipment budget will have been set as part of the Full Business Case.
3.11.2 The initial listing, which provides the design team with a basis for developing the detailed design of each room, will have been shown on the room data sheets and agreed during the briefing period of the construction project.
3.11.3 The commissioning team should re-examine the room data sheets, extract and develop equipment schedules, and identify the following:
• items currently in use that are expected to be transferred to the new facility;
• items currently in use that are expected to be transferred, but also to be replaced during the lifetime of the project; and
• items to be bought as new from the equipping budget.
3.11.4 There are four types of equipment:
• Group 1: these items are mainly fixed pieces of equipment; they will be supplied and put in place by the contractor.
• Group 2: these are items of fixed equipment purchased by the healthcare provider and put in place by the contractor as part of the contract - examples are x-ray viewers, soap dispensers etc.
• Group 3: these are moveable pieces of furniture and equipment purchased by the provider and put in place once the facility has been handed over - examples are desks, chairs, mobile pieces of medical and scientific equipment such as mobile x-ray machines and beds.
• Group 4: these items are portable pieces of equipment having no overall critical space implication, such as waste paper bins, telephone handsets, etc - they are usually not specified on the original room data sheets.
Note: Groups 2 & 3 items may interchange in some contracts
3.11.5 The equipment groups shown on the room data sheets may need to be altered if the majority of equipment is to be transferred. Some Group 2 items may need to be identified as Group 3 if they are to be transferred and fitted at the same time as the department they belong to is transferred. The cost of this exercise should be clarified at an early stage and funds identified.
3.11.6 It is likely that amendments will be required to the list of items to be replaced before occupation and those to be bought as new. The former category should be addressed as part of the normal business planning process of that service and these changes recorded by the commissioning team. Items in the latter category will require the approval of the Project Director to be added to the list of newly procured equipment. The overall equipping budget should not be exceeded.
3.11.7 Group 4 items are often not dealt with adequately as they do not appear on room data sheets as they have no space implication and are not a focus for the design team during the briefing process. However, the Project Team, supported by an experienced Capital Equipping Manager, must assess the requirements for Group 4 items and ensure that a sufficient sum has been allowed for their purchase as part of the Full Business Case.
3.11.8 The Capital Equipping Manager will normally be a member of the NHSScotland Body's supplies procurement division and will report to the Project Director for the purposes of equipping the new facility. For example, it will be known how many telephone points there are in the new facility and how many there are in the existing one, the shortfall in handsets should then be easy to calculate and an allowance made.
3.11.9 Group 1 equipment is specified before the beginning of the commissioning process. In a relatively straightforward project, most of the Group 1 equipment will be benching and fairly low-tech equipment easy to specify. In a complex development, such as a radiology department, the specification of Group 1 equipment will be less straightforward, as the technology associated with such a function may change quickly. Again change control processes are important to control movements from assumptions made in the Full Business Case.
3.11.10 It is advisable for the Capital Equipping Manager and the department concerned to open dialogue with a number of suppliers over the lifetime of the project to gauge the market position. The final design of the room into which the equipment is to be fixed should be left flexible to ensure that it can meet the needs of the equipment when it is finally specified.
3.11.11 The ordering of such pieces of equipment will usually be subject to OJEU rules on competitive tendering, and the Commissioning Manager, as part of the commissioning master plan, should make allowances for the time take to undertake this process.