About Us
Health Estates Investment Group (HEIG)
Health Estates
Health Estates provides the policy lead within the DHSSPS for estate
matters in the health and social care sector and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. Health
Estates, along with the Investment Directorate forms the Health Estates Investment Group, and is the
single body in Northern Ireland with recognised expertise in all aspects of the Health and Social Care
and Public Safety estate.
Strategic Objectives
The strategic objectives of Health Estates are as follows:
- to provide advice and support to the Minister and to departmental colleagues in relation to all professional and technical aspects of estate and estate development.
- to act as a Centre of Specialist Expertise (COSE) in providing the lead on policy development, implementation and monitoring in relation to all professional and technical aspects of estate and estate development.
- to optimise the achievement of capital receipts from all surplus Departmental (retained), HSC and NIFRS estate through a proactively managed strategic disposal programme.
- to ensure that all capital development and estate functions are undertaken to comply with best-practice guidance on Sustainability and to meet Departmental responsibilities associated with the Northern Ireland Sustainable Development Strategy and the Climate Change Act
- to undertake the role of the regional Centre of Procurement Expertise (COPE) as the accredited delivery body with responsibility for ensuring the development, dissemination and implementation of best practice methodologies in the procurement of all major capital developments within HSC.
- to undertake performance management of the HSC in relation to the overall management of the estate including compliance with policy directives relating to the design, specification, procurement and operation of health and social care facilities.
Functions
The key functions of Health Estates are:
Centre of Procurement Expertise (COPE)
In May 2002 the Northern Ireland Executive approved a new public procurement
policy for the public sector in Northern Ireland. Under this policy Health Estates was formally
accredited as a ‘Centre of Procurement Expertise’ (COPE) acting on behalf of the Department for capital
development projects undertaken within HSC and NIFRS. The COPE status was re-accredited after
an indepth assessment of all NICS COPEs in September 2005 and July 2009.
Centre of Specialist Expertise
Health Estates acts as a centre of specialist expertise for Health and
Social Care and takes the lead on policy development and subsequent performance management of the HSC
in relation to compliance with policy directives in the following areas:
- Health Facility Planning
- Sustainability
- Design Quality and Standards
- Telecommunications
- Decontamination (technical policy)
- Decontamination (testing services)
- Fire safety standards for all health and social care building types
- Engineering standards for all health and social care building types
- Infrastructure resilience
- Estate Management - strategic disposal programme of surplus land
- Site Inspection Services
- Equipment management
- Clinical engineering
- The Northern Ireland Adverse Incident Centre
- Professional development of specialist estate staff within the HSC.
