General Guidance

As of 29 October 2013, SGHSC has implemented new supplementary guidance which relates to business cases associated with new Primary Healthcare Facilities. This will require, as part of the business case submission, the completion of a Value for Money Scorecard which compares a new project against prescribed performance metrics.

Technical Guidance and a VfM Scorecard template is available on the Scottish Futures Trust website.

Please see the notification letter sent to Chief Executives, Directors of Finance and Strategic Facilities Group which explains the rationale.

Provides an overview of the roles of the key parties involved in the raising of finance for health NPD projects to promote an open, transparent and collaborative approach to financing NPD projects.

The guidance is available on the SCIM Supporting Guidance page.

A letter has previously been issued to Directors of Finance setting out the Scottish Government's approach to the establishment of the capital cost element of affordability caps within new projects requests for hub projects within NHSScotland.
hub Affordability caps letter
SFT Guidance Note: Setting Affordability Caps in New Project Requests for Hub Projects - Construction Cost Element

A letter has previously been issued to Chief Executives advising of the revision of arrangements for independent project assurance for major projects within NHSScotland. This matter has been discussed and agreed at pan Scottish Government level with the aim of streamlining the overall arrangements for project assurance across the public sector in Scotland. Copies of this letter and associated diagram illustrating the Assurance Framework for Scottish Government's Major Investment & Health Sector Projects can be accessed via the following links:

NHSScotland Gateway Review/Key Stage Review letter

An assessment of design quality is now part of the SGHSC Business Case process. All projects submitted to the SGHSC Capital Investment Group for approval are now subject to an assessment of design quality and functionality, including technical and sustainability standards. This Design Assessment will take place at the Initial Agreement, Outline Business Case and Full Business Case stages of approval.

The SGHSC’s purpose in developing and implementing this process is to ensure that the outcomes of development projects meet the Government’s objectives and expectations for public investment. The aim of mapping design into the Business Case process is to support the implementation of the Policy on Design Quality for NHSScotland by improving the level of design quality achieved across NHSScotland and, ultimately, the outcomes achieved by doing so.

To assist NHS Boards in utilising good design to achieve the best outcomes from their development projects, Boards are required to develop and produce a Design Statement prior to the submission of their Initial Agreement. The Design Statement is the first control document produced for a project and should be consistent with the Board’s overall vision contained within the strategic Design Action Plan.

Additional guidance on Design Assessment and the Business Case process has been added to the Scottish Capital Investment Manual. The guidance also includes advice on the preparation of the Design Statement.

Patients using healthcare facilities are more likely to be immuno-compromised and also more likely to receive intensive medical interventions, which in turn increase their vulnerability to opportunistic infections. Every effort must be taken to acknowledge and ultimately reduce these risks. This includes risks associated with the built environment that can arise from, for example, demolition, construction and refurbishment activities.

To achieve this, it is necessary that designers, architects, engineers, facilities managers and planners work in collaborative partnership with Infection Protection and Control (IPC) teams, healthcare staff and the users to deliver facilities in which IPC needs have been anticipated, planned for and met.
Scottish Health Facilities Notes SHFN 30: Part A and SHFN 30: Part B provide information for those responsible for planning, design, construction, refurbishment & maintenance of healthcare facilities to help identify, prevent and control built environment HAI risks in a collaborative process led by an appropriately skilled specialist multi-disciplinary professional staff team.

SHFN 30: Part A: Manual Information for Design Teams, Construction Teams, Estates & Facilities and Infection Prevention & Control Teams
SHFN 30: Part B: HAI-SCRIBE Implementation strategy and assessment process
SHFN 30: HAI-SCRIBE questionsets and checklists

These documents, together with additional resources, are available at the Health Facilities Scotland website.

The Scottish Government Procurement Directorate issued a Policy Note on 28 October 2009, the purpose of which is to ensure that purchasers are aware of a new clause that has been introduced into the Scottish Government standard terms and conditions of contract and to ask other public bodies to adopt the clause in their terms and conditions of contract.
The Policy Note can be accessed via the link below. Scottish Procurement Policy Note SPPN 8/2009

On 18 April 2011, Mike Baxter, Deputy Director Capital and Facilities and James King and Viv Cockburn of Scottish Futures Trust, hosted a session on Revenue Finance Briefing for NHSScotland. You can view a copy of their joint presentation via the link below:

NHSScotland Revenue Finance Briefing presentation - (PDF : 1.6MB)

These are the location factors that NHS Boards should use to adjust their construction estimates. The factors are intended to provide a general indication of pricing differentials; they should be used as an aid to, not a substitute for, professional judgment.

The location factors are available through subscription from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) website, where further complementary cost and price indices and other construction data are also available.