Eclipse-fm® 2010/v5 Now Released
Improving the working environment
With Eclipse-fm® 2010/v5 the main emphasis in this release lies in convenience of use for the remote worker and facilitating those NHS Organisations who wish to minimise reliance on paper based records and instructions.
While the completely paperless office is probably never going to be a complete reality, we can at least take steps to get as close as we can to that goal. As a nice bonus, the changes introduced to allow this also make the working life easier. The two elements that bring in these changes are
 Task Supervisor Logging This is a new feature added that allows a Supervisor to log operatives on and off tasks.
This maintains real time data recording when a remote operative needs to switch tasks at short notice without having immediate access to either Task Logging, MTM or Web Eclipse. Without the traditional paper docket to be entered into the system later, operatives have had to find a PC to log off their current task and log on to the new one when working "paper less". Now the supervisor can do it when organising the "interrupt" task.
Hazard Awareness.
Health & Safety procedures should mandate that where a hazard exists in relation to a task or asset, operatives must acknowledge their awareness of the situation. Exactly how that is done varies from hospital to hospital, but the completely correct way of doing this would involve signing a Hazard Register in a central single location each time a hazard notice is encountered. That would add considerable overhead to such tasks, and could be impractical on sites with a wide spread of geographical locations
This is a new feature that has been added to actively notify the user of any hazards that are present for the work area that relates to the task, and to allow for the worker to electronically acknowledge that they are aware of their presence.
This is done via "Agree/Disagree" buttons in the task display, and these are effective when tasks are being responded to via Mobile Task Management with PDAs as well as via the Windows desktop task logging facilities. As well as the practical - and valuable - element of drawing attention to the hazard, these provide a permanent electronic record of awareness, meeting the Health & Safety requirements without the need for time consuming visits to the hazard registry location.
This feature is included in all three electronic methods off working with tasks - direct Task Logging, MTM Task notification as here, and in the Web Eclipse module.
For full details on the Eclipse-fm® 2010/v5 release click here
Updating your Eclipse-fm® System
If you are an Eclipse-fm® user we will be in contact with you after Easter in order to agree dates for updating your system
Feedback Group Meeting
The next meeting will be on Tuesday May 18th. The date has been set with the April Eclipse-fm® release in mind in order to give time for users to gain initial experience with the new release.
We will be sending out the formal notice and Agenda later, but if you are an Eclipse-fm® user and would like to attend but have not been along before, contact us on 0845 270 7747 or email eclipse@asckey.com and we will add you to the mailing list.
These Feedback Group meetings are attracting increasing attendance over the last 12 months, a good indication of the increasing interest in the product.
A key element of the feedback meetings is to ensure that as wide a cross section of user comment as possible can be aired in open forum. For that reason, we would urge you to send a representative from your establishment in order to ensure that your opinions are heard. Our goal is for these meetings to outgrow our accommodation so that we can move them to the Golf Club down the road!
Contacting us
To tell us you are coming, and to send in any suggestions, email us at eclipse@asckey.com
Or, call us on 0845 2707747
Non Users - Eclipse-fm® Demonstrations
If you would like to look at the latest Eclipse-fm® developments, please contact us on 0845 2707747 and we will be more than happy to arrange a demonstration.
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Eclipse-fm® 2010/v5 - Other Highlights
Nested Assets
Many times "an asset" is in fact a collection of assets. A boiler is an asset, but it contains several other items which you may wish to record as identifiable assets in their own right - the pump, heat exchanger, control panel etc. In turn, the pump may have parts which could be assets themselves and theoretically ad infinitum. This is the classic "Start with a Boeing 747 and end up with a rubber tyre" bill of materials type of structure.
This has been pioneered with us by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHST, and will be included in Eclipse-fm® v5. GOSH are finding it to be a powerful feature for organising assets, particularly with the unlimited levels of "parent/child" association possible. One emerging use has been to make a location an asset - for example a sterilising facility, with the various sterilisers and other equipment identified as sub assets within that "Location Asset". This feature will undoubtedly be used in many unexpected ways, and will generate more user feedback requests to develop it further!
Improvements to Mobile Task Management
Multiple improvements including
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More task details
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Task Priority information
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Provisions for multiple trades staff working on the same task
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PDA can now create work in progress tasks
- Hazard warning and ackowledgement (as above). Eliminates need to "return to base" to sign hazard regster
Nested Assets
Many times "an asset" is in fact a collection of assets. A boiler is an asset, but it contains several other items which you may wish to record as identifiable assets in their own right - the pump, heat exchanger, control panel etc. In turn, the pump may have parts which could be assets themselves and theoretically ad infinitum. This is the classic "Start with a Boeing 747 and end up with a rubber tyre" bill of materials type of structure.
This has been pioneered with us by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHST, and will be included in Eclipse-fm® v5. GOSH are finding it to be a powerful feature for organising assets, particularly with the unlimited levels of "parent/child" association possible. One emerging use has been to make a location an asset - for example a sterilising facility, with the various sterilisers and other equipment identified as sub assets within that "Location Asset". This feature will undoubtedly be used in many unexpected ways, and will generate more user feedback requests to develop it further!
System Close Down
A minor administrative convenience, but one that Eclipse-fm® system managers will appreciate is a new facility to allow for the forced log-out of users. When essential maintenance is necessary such as upgrades, it may have to be done when users are not active in the system, and nothing is more frustrating than waiting for tardy users to log out - or worse, having gone home and forgotten to log out! Now Eclipse-fm® can warn users of an impending close down, and after due time has elapsed, they will be logged off - perfectly safely in relation to any data entry that they may be doing at that point.
There is much more - click here for the full details.
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EBME Special Feedback Group
The EBME management extensions introduced in the current version of Eclipse-fm® are generating considerable interest.
It would appear that there is no Facilities Management system available that combines the general handling of ad-hoc Helpdesk originated and Planned Preventive Maintenance tasks with the special needs of EBME maintenance and repair management. As a result, NHS Trusts that have an EBME maintenance capability have operated the two disciplines as separate concerns, with all the disadvantages of separate systems, duplicated asset data, and lack of visibility of what is going on.
Vic Ball from the Ipswich Hospital NHS trust says
"We don’t think there is any one system that handles the special needs of EBME within the context of an overall FM and Asset Management system, and with the growing emphasis on "joined up management" this is a real need. This is a major plus to Eclipse-fm® .
Bringing all maintenance records into the one system as can be done with Eclipse-fm® will solve these problems. The Eclipse-fm® role based data filtering allows EBME maintenance staff to see the system as specifically an EBME system only, while management will still be able to see - and keep track of - EBME tasks as part of the overall facilities management remit.
EBME Development Group - April 13 2010
This potential for Eclipse-fm® to bring both disciplines under the one management system is raising much interest and on March 10 a meeting at Dudley NHS trust took place to explore the usage of what is already in place and to map out future developments. This showed that the current facility meets a good proportion of the specialist EBME needs, rather more than many had appreciated but with attendees coming from several interested Trusts there was much discussion on the details of EBME maintenance and repair management needs and on extending the current functionality. One particular possibility that emerged was that of augmenting the "bench repairs/testing" aspect of EBME maintenance by bringing the the current capability to integrate with the Rigel test device into the EBME task management.
As anticipated, this has paved the way for a new Eclipse-fm® specialist EBME feedback group with a first meeting planned for Tuesday 13 April at Asckey Data Services Ltd where we hope to involve more Estates staff with EBME experience.
We would extend an invitation to all with an EBME interest to come to this - call us on 0845 2707747 or email sales@ascley.com if you would like either to come, or be kept informed of developments.
Our goal - a single and totally integrated system covering all elements of NHS Facilities Management, developed with direct input from those actually in practical day to day facilities management.
Click here for more on the current Eclipse-fm® EBME capability
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French Style Qualifications Dateline April 1 2010
So as to be seen to be doing something following the recent spate of unfortunate incidents in NHS Hospitals we have heard on the grapevine that in order to drive quality up, the NHS is going to adopt the French style of open competition for all administrative posts.
In France, any person who wants to be a civil servant must go through a concours (a competitive examination) that can require up to two years of studying and preparation.
This is not just an examination with a set pass/fail as it introduces an element of competition into the process. Would be administrators, even at junior level, have to take what is in fact a series of examinations with maybe 150 others competing for the same job. If the French model is followed, then the top 10% from that batch will go on to take a final oral exam, which notoriously includes trick questions to unsettle the candidates.
And, this is a continuing process. The French civil service has a built-in incentive to force people to strive for personal improvement: the grading system.
Each year, staff are graded with a mark out of twenty that is given for assiduity, competence, and ability to relate to others - all highly subjective matters. As in the in the French army, on which this process is modelled, bad marks won’t prevent a fonctionnaire from rising in pay and grade, but bad marks will make promotion slower. Administrators who are bien note (well marked) get better bonuses and more exciting assignments. They move through the ranks faster and are often encouraged to apply for senior positions that are only accessible by the competitive concours as above. So C grade staff can become B grades or A grades by going through the same competitive exam process they went through to get into the grade in the first place. But to do that they have to be bien note.
How much of this openly elitist and deliberately competitive model will be adopted remains to be seen. In France, success rates for such jobs vary from 1 to 12 per cent and in four cases out of five, people who make the cut then have to go through training in a special school that can last up to two years - even if they already have a related diploma.
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Need to know more?
If you need to know more about Eclipse-fm® just call us up - 0845 2707747.
 e-News from Eclipse-fm® is provided by Asckey Data Services Ltd
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