PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITY MANAGEMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Ever since the Industrial Revolution, property management has always been referred to as the collection of rental, negotiation of lease, physical maintenance and upgrading of buildings. In the nineties however, property management does not concern only with the above. It now concerns the satisfaction of the users to facilities provided by the building, which will enhance their business efficiency. It is commonly known as facilities management. In a dynamic society, people's wants and organisation's needs are ever changing with the passage of time. As such, current buildings will not be able to accommodate their new functions and therefore cause inefficiency. This is especially true for health organisations, where new technology in medical science has made vast improvements in a very short time span. Furthermore, the rising affluence and the increasing life span of the people (due to advanced medical technology and national health policies) have caused a demand for better quality health and medical care. In order to provide the best medical care for the people, present hospitals have to constantly upgrade their facilities in order to remain competitive and profitable. Careful employment of space resources in their premises is vital in order to maximise space utilisation in the premises. This will ensure that every resource that is available will be used for the provision and extension of medical care for the benefit of the people. In recent years, there have been several upgrading works carried out by some of the prominent hospitals here. The study will make an attempt to describe the practical operational aspect of facilities management techniques as employed by Singapore General Hospital, and summarises the benefits of adopting such technique. The study has concluded that facilities management techniques will need the cooperation of the users and also require the use of computers for assistance in quick decision making.