Facilities management (FM) at an Albanian and a Norwegian university hospital

What is it about?

This is the first comparative study of FM at an Albanian and a Norwegian university hospital. The Albanian university hospital’s Support Service division is currently a far less-developed service provider than the Norwegian university hospital’s FM division. The Albanian university hospital’s provision of facilities services seems only partially integrated with the hospital’s core activities. The Norwegian university hospital’s FM division and its provision of facilities services are deeply integrated with the hospital’s core activities. The Norwegian university hospital’s provision of food and catering services at ward kitchens and buffets appears to be far more robust than the Albanian university hospital’s provision of food and catering services at ward kitchens and buffets. However, both the Albanian and the Norwegian university hospital have potential for improvements in the food and catering services at ward kitchens and buffets.

Featured Image

Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash

Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash

Why is it important?

One important measure if the Albanian Ministry of Health would like to improve the Albanians’ trust in their public health-care system is to establish a programme for development of FM at the hospitals. Development of or employment of skilled facilities managers, all other things equal, facilitates improved FM at hospitals. Improved FM in turn will all other things equal facilitate improved medical treatment of patients. This is evident both in the UK’s NHS and at the Norwegian university hospital. Food production and service chains at hospitals are complex and vulnerable, and no such chains are stronger than the weakest link. The Albanian Ministry of Health can improve the hospitals’ food and catering services significantly though implementation of FM measures. One measure is inclusion of service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) in their requests for tender when they announce new food and catering contracts to hospitals or in case of renegotiations of existing contracts. Another measure is implementation of standardised routines and procedures for the external service providers serving the Albanian hospitals, hereunder requirements for training and education of staffs. A third measure is to mobilise the Regional Health Authorities (AHSR) and the National Food Authority (AKU) to audit the Albanian hospitals’ food service performance and staff.

Perspectives