The west wing of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford – Ben Molyneux-Shutterstock
Mitie has secured a new contract to provide cleaning, portering and patient and staff catering at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
The contract is valued at £92.5 million over five years, and it includes the option to extend for up to 15 years at five-year intervals.
Mitie’s appointment follows a value-testing exercise carried out between The Hospital Company Ltd (THC) and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, as part of an existing John Radcliffe PFI arrangement.
Part of OUH, John Radcliffe Hospital has more than 800 beds and occupies floor space of 142,000 square metres. The provider’s 700-strong team of cleaners, porters, catering assistants and ward hosts will ensure that the hospital’s acute medical and surgical, trauma, and intensive care services are kept operational by supporting patients and clinical staff.
The contract builds on Mitie’s existing presence at OUH – it has run security and car parking services at the trust’s premises since 2008.
Mitie will bring a technology-led approach to the contract, with the introduction of new systems across all services. This will include the use of cutting-edge task scheduling, prioritisation and indoor location monitoring software. When support with tasks such as patient transfers or cleaning is needed, clinical teams will be able to create a request on the system to alert the nearest available Mitie staff member.
The company will also install sensor technology to monitor footfall, to guarantee that the busiest parts of the hospital are prioritised for cleaning, and it will introduce autonomous scrubber-dryer robots to free up staff to focus on specialist tasks, such as sanitising busy touchpoint areas.
The catering team will introduce an electronic meal-ordering system with the accent on cutting food waste.
Mitie has also pledged to support social value, making the local community central to the contract.
It aims to cut the hospital’s environmental impact by moving to chemical-free cleaning products and cutting out all single-use plastics from its catering services. It will work with its food suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging coming into the hospital and will source more fresh produce from local businesses.
The team will support work placements for at least 10 local people each year through the Mitie Foundation's Ready2Work scheme, which “supports people with barriers to employment or from disadvantaged groups”.
Alice Woodwark, Mitie’s managing director, communities, said: “By bringing our technology-led approach and focus on innovation, we will be ensuring our fantastic frontline colleagues can continue to deliver an exceptional service for the hospital’s patients and clinical teams.”
Clement Leverd, director of the THC, said: “Having worked in partnership with the trust to secure Mitie’s appointment, we see their introduction as key as we continue to build on the collaboration here at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Mitie brings with them a wealth of experience from across the NHS, and we are eager to see the roll-out of new technologies as part of their services delivery.”
Sam Foster, chief nursing officer and executive director lead for Estates & Facilities at Oxford University Hospitals, said: “The staff who provide these services are very much part of our #OneTeamOneOUH and their role has never been more important than during the current Covid-19 pandemic.”
