Facility and Asset Maintenance Service Improvement Sydney

Overview

The RSLLC ANZAC Village is one of the largest and most complex retirement living and residential aged care facility in Australia. Covering 105 acres and situated in the heart of the Narrabeen bushland leading down to Narrabeen Lake, the Village encompasses 700 independent living units, eight residential aged care facilities, including two specialising in dementia-care, a chapel, a museum, a therapy and lifestyle centre, a theatre, cinema, cafes, a restaurant and multiple community centres.

Castle Consulting was initially brought in to undertake an in-depth evaluation of the planning, management and maintenance of the ANZAC Village in Narrabeen, leading to an extended role to restructure the delivery of estate support services.

Approach

Initial review and analysis identified a range of operational deficiencies that had evolved over a lengthy period due to the on-site managers not having access to evolving best practice models or information. The issues were acerbated by the fact that the Village was facing a significant challenge from residents who are responsible for funding maintenance of the estate.

We identified 12 opportunities for increased effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the estate maintenance model. RSLLC accepted the recommendations on the proviso that Castle Consulting would take responsibility for planning and implementing the recommended changes.

Assuming the newly established role of Estate Manager, the maintenance delivery, minor works and estate planning models were redesigned to move away from a sole reliance on expensive contractors, establish consistency in works delivery and a quality control framework to ensure the Village achieved value for money.

A program of team resilience, empowerment and collaboration training was developed and delivered, bring a greater sense of self-belief, commitment and collaboration through a 25 strong team.

Benefits

The result of the implemented changes included a $1.6m year-on-year reduction in expenditure (on a $9m pa budget), zero staff attrition for the period, a ten-fold improvement in user satisfaction and greater transparency and reporting capability for the Senior Executive team, the Board and 100% compliance with all applicable statutory instruments.

Working closely with and proactively engaging with the Residents’ Representative Committee and its Finance Subcommittee, we were able to establish a relationship between RSLLC and the residents based on trust, transparency and demonstrable effectiveness in delivering estate management services in a commercially sustainable manner.

The revised structure and approach included the establishment of an asset register and an Asset Management Plan enabling compliance with the newly introduced requirements of the Retirement Villages Act.