Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) provide inpatient and community-based mental healthcare services to people living in Bolton, Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Wigan, Greater Manchester, and the northwest of England. Its 6,690 staff members support and improve the lives of over 97,000 children and adults.
Managed by NHS Property Services, bookable space utilised by GMMH was onboarded to NHS Open Space (Open Space) in order to manage it more effectively. This enabled GMMH to adopt Open Space’s efficient room booking system to manage its growing need for flexible spaces for clinical and non-clinical services, including therapy rooms, group therapy, and counselling sessions, and a way to book any extra space they need, when they need it.
Prior to the adoption of Open Space, GMMH was reliant on manual processes for room management, which led to inefficiencies in space utilisation and a lack of understanding of their space requirement.
The challenges
Room utilisation and cost efficiency
Prior to the adoption of Open Space, GMMH was experiencing difficulties ensuring spaces were booked according to the actual needs of services. For example, clinical spaces were being booked for full-day sessions, even when only an hour of space was required. This led to significant inefficiencies in space usage.
Lack of visibility and transparency
GMMH’s previous booking process lacked a central view of available spaces across multiple sites. This made it challenging for reception staff and managers to coordinate and optimise bookings, often leading to confusion and wasted resources.
Understanding of cost implications
Many staff members were unaware of the costs associated with room bookings. This lack of awareness meant that some services were inadvertently booking rooms that did not align with their actual needs, leading to unnecessary expenses.
Overflow requirements
While properties that GMMH was using had been onboarded to Open Space, there were instances where space was needed but those properties were at capacity.
The solution
The introduction of Open Space has provided GMMH with an intuitive platform to manage room bookings across multiple sites, including both clinical and non-clinical spaces, a much-needed service-managed approach to space management, and an external booking platform to meet service requirements. The key features of Open Space adopted to meet GMMH’s needs include:
A centralised booking system
Open Space has consolidated room availability across all GMMH locations, making it easier for staff to check availability and make bookings without needing to contact individual reception teams at different sites.
Real-time utilisation reporting
The system's multi-level utilisation reporting feature has allowed GMMH to track how often spaces are being used and for how long. This has provided insights into booking patterns, helping the team identify underutilised spaces and adjust bookings accordingly. Staff can now more accurately match room bookings to service needs, ensuring better cost control.
Cost transparency
The system clearly shows the costs associated with each room, whether clinical or non-clinical. GMMH can now easily see if services are overbooking or using higher-cost clinical spaces when a lower-cost non-clinical space would suffice, enabling them to make more cost-effective decisions. Plus, non-clinical spaces are available for booking in smaller increments (e.g., hourly), further helping GMMH optimise room usage and reduce costs.
Flexible booking options
Where extra space is required, GMMH is easily able to book spaces online through Open Space’s external booking platform, on a one-off or recurring basis, up to 21 months in advance.
The results
Improved space utilisation: 21% cost efficiency due to increased utilisation of space
GMMH has seen a marked improvement in the way rooms are utilised, with a reduction in overbooking and a better match between room size and type and actual service requirements.
Cost savings: 32% cost savings due to better booking behaviours
By using the utilisation reports to identify areas where space was being booked inefficiently, GMMH has been able to reduce booking costs by shifting to more appropriate spaces. The ability to book non-clinical spaces by the hour, rather than for a full day, has further optimised costs. For instance, GMMH was able to reduce booking costs from £100 per session to as low as £15 for short-term bookings.
Increased transparency and accountability
The centralised system has allowed for greater transparency in booking costs. GMMH staff, including reception teams, managers, and service leads, can easily track who has booked which spaces and the associated costs. This transparency has encouraged more responsible and informed decision-making regarding space use and allocation.
More service delivery
By using Open Space’s room finder, GMMH is able to book the space they need, when they need it. This means that service needs can be met even when typically used space is at capacity. This has led to nine additional services across five properties.
Enhanced communication and coordination
Using Open Space allowed for improved communication between the various sites and teams at GMMH. Reception staff can now manage bookings centrally, reducing the need for emails and phone calls to check availability at different locations. This has led to faster, more efficient operations.
On the adoption of Open Space and working with the Open Space team, Katie says:
By adopting Open Space, GMMH has successfully transformed how it manages room bookings, resulting in better utilisation of space, reduced costs, and improved coordination across sites and between colleagues. Open Space’s reporting features provide valuable insights, leading to more informed decisions. GMMH’s experience highlights how Open Space’s solution can optimise resources, improve cost efficiency, and enhance overall service delivery in a healthcare environment.
