In September 2015 Capita entered into a Strategic Partnership, for Corporate Services,Transformation and Growth with Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH), an organisation providing community services to approximately 1 million people across London and Hertfordshire.

Through the partnership CLCH intend to make improvements to four of their key corporate service areas: Estates and Facilities, IM&T, HR and Finance.

Capita’s second health partnership (after Sussex Community NHS Trust), it has been designed to achieve a number of estates objectives for CLCH, including:

• Optimisation of its estate;
• Development of investment opportunities;
• Ensure the right properties, in the right place, for the right price;
• Improving efficiency and quality;
• Providing flexibility and adaptability to support CLCH’s changing needs;
• Re-modelling the team to deliver our service vision;
• Improving service quality through effective facilities management;
• Sharing the efficiency benefits, increased rental income and footprint transformation activities and new ways of working;
• Providing development opportunities for staff;
• Improving capability to measure performance;
• Implementing an IT solution to support the commercial management of the property portfolio;
• Delivering efficiencies in asset utilisation, understanding estate issues and developing solutions to new service pathways based on clinical needs.

CLCH owns the freehold to many properties in and around London, which they do not occupy themselves and part of the property workstream will be to renegotiate and normalise some of the existing arrangements, in those properties the Trust intends to retain, to ensure that they receive reasonable remuneration and value for money from their tenants. As the Trust’ partner we have the authority to discuss, review and negotiate all matters relating to leases, licences, tenancy agreements, formal and informal arrangements as CLCH’s Estates Representative.

Having significant experience in NHS property management, Capita’s
consultants have been acutely aware, from the inception of the partnership, of
the sensitivity of this issue and use their experience and market knowledge to carry out appropriate negotiations with tenants and their representatives, so that the Trust’s reputation is upheld and they are seen to act in a responsible manner.

The solutions and arrangements put forward recognise that there are a number of restrictions and limitations, which include:

• Tenants entitled to pay zero rent, or who have other special conditions of tenancy;
• Current terms and conditions of tenancy agreements that may prevent otherwise optimal terms;
• The Trust’s relationship with their tenants and the influence they may have within the local health economy and the potential impact of any rental
  changes.

In delivering change for the Trust, we will manage and develop and integrated estate transformation programme in accordance with CLCH’s processes and agreed
contracts.

All transformation workstreams will adopt a four-stage methodology in their design and implementation.

There are a number of ways in which we have been able to add value to the partnership, including, but not limited to:

• CLCH benefitting from our access to market leading, scalable support services to provide competitive services, agility and flexibility;
• We bring our full experience and knowledge from many years working directly in the NHS to benefit all and any of the workstreams and improvement programmes;
• Using our expertise to accelerate the pace of change and reducing transition
  costs, whilst ensuring continuity of service for CLCH;
• Supporting the Trust’s strategy for being an Employer of Choice, in developing its profile, candidate attraction strategies and HR processes;
• We bring our Business Development, Marketing and Commercial expertise to support the Trust in bidding to provide new services and develop new income streams – our BD director will not only contribute directly to major bids, but will also share knowledge and experience in training and mentoring the Trust’s in-house bidding teams;
• We have a range of technology offerings to support mobile / agile working, cloud-hosting services, clinical triage and clinical systems
  management.

We also bring considerable experience and lessons learnt from previous partnership arrangements, such as Barnet Council, reusing proven systems and processes and exploiting existing technologies and digital innovation – re-establishing our credentials as a “good partner”.