Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 11th April 2024 Issue no. 1109

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West Berkshire Community Hospital - complex by nature

By their very nature, hospital service infrastructures can be complex, incorporating legislative and innovative ways of providing services at best value. Corporate change over the last few recessionary years has also impacted this structure at hospitals such as West Berkshire Community Hospital.

The Hospital provides healthcare services to over 100,000 people in the Newbury and surrounding areas.

Opened in 2004, it provides 60 in-patient beds and a range of services including two day-surgery theatres with the capacity for up to 18 patients, outpatients specialist consultation unit, minor injuries unit, physiotherapy, rehabilitation therapy and radiology.

Dedicated children's outpatient facility, a base for community health teams and GP out-of-hours services. 

Bellrock Property & Facilities Management took over a range of facilities management services at the hospital in June 2010 following the administration of Jarvis. Bellrock sought to mitigate the inevitable uncertainty through constant dialogue with all stakeholders, reassuring them about service consistency and job stability. The FM team of 42 transferred from the now defunct Jarvis, into Bellrock, providing:

* On-site facilities management
* Cleaning and waste services (including the provision of washroom consumables)
* Linen services
* Grounds maintenance
* Lifecycle works management
* Planned and reactive maintenance
* Catering services (patient and public)
* Reception
* Portering

Bellrock now has a 30 year contract with the West Berkshire Community Hospital. For the six years previous to Bellrock taking this contract, Jarvis had been providing Katrin Tissue products and dispensers, via a framework agreement, from a long standing Katrin Distributor: Premiere Products. Bellrock reviewed this decision in line with the acquired contract commitments, and it was agreed that Katrin remained the most cost effective and functional solution that fully met the hospital's needs.

Ifor Sheldon, Contract Manager for the hospital explains: "Premiere Products offers an excellent support network which includes Health & Safety training, product training, high service levels and a proactive approach to innovative new products, including Katrin."

The hospital uses about 16 tonnes of tissue paper a year (about £25k per annum). In using paper consumables, the hospital's requirements include:

* Maintaining good hygiene as a top priority
* Commitment to reducing its carbon foot print
* A need to reduce cost in use for consumable spend, including
* Reducing consumption
* Eliminating theft
* A strong remit from its Infection Control team to support infection reduction targets
* Achieving targets

Ifor is a big fan of Katrin dispensers. He explains: "Katrin dispensers look modern and attractive and are very easy to clean, which is very important to us in terms of hygiene. They are simple to refill, which reduces maintenance and saves significant amounts of time for our staff (particularly for the System Toilet products where there are two large rolls per dispenser). They only dispense appropriate quantities, without any waste, which both keeps our washrooms clean and tidy and offers cost in use savings. And the lockable system eliminates theft."

The fact that Katrin products have a proven green heritage adds value. "Like all public institutions, protecting the environment by reducing our carbon footprint is another key measure for the hospitals, and from good forestry practices and reconised Eco labels right through to recycling, the Katrin messages are very impressive," says Ifor.

Because of the complex nature of the NHS management infrastructure, another key requirement for the washroom consumables during the organisational change was ease of transition of assets from one organisation to another. For example, The Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is one of two Trusts on site and is the main tenant that leases half the site to the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Ifor says: "This could have been an issue for us, but thanks to the Katrin dispenser policy, it was made easy with 'free on loan' dispensers meaning the actual ownership remains with the manufacturer, Metsa Tissue.

"Unlike some manufacturers, where this process is complex and form laden, the Metsa approach was very simple."

With an estate dispenser population of 130 dispensers, tissue products are used as follows:

* One Stop hand towels are used in all clinical areas
* System Hand Towels are used general and public areas of the hospital where footfall is at its highest
* System Toilet products are used throughout the hospital

"Katrin is a key product in helping to meet our requirements," explains Ifor. "The long One Stop handtowels are used in the key clinical areas of the hospital including wards, theatres, physiotherapy, rehabilitation therapy, radiology, minor injuries and outpatients. For these areas we need a product that gives us maximum drying capacity, excellent hygiene and good cost in use.

"Our clinical staff washes their hands often, and need the softest hand towels possible. With many manufacturers, this requires a more expensive 3-ply product. However Katrin's dermatologically tested 2-ply product completely fits the bill here."

The Infection Control team also really like the Katrin solutions. Says Ifor: "This team is really important in the consumable decision making process because maintaining a hygienic environment is fundamental to a hospital ethos, and hygiene targets are high.

"And it helps that Katrin's 'cost in use' features continue to help the hospital keep a tight rein on its consumable budget."

The length of the period that Katrin has been serving West Berkshire Community Hospital is testament in itself. Katrin has been installed and delivering hygiene excellence and quality for almost 10 years. In addition, the fact that the consumable provision has survived the transition from Jarvis to Bellrock, and continues to perform some four years after the contract was taken over, also attests to the reliability of the products.

"Through all the organisational change, Katrin products have more than fit the bill and worked for us as an organisation," says Ifor. "And the service from Premiere Products has quite simply been - well - Premier"!

T: 0116 201 6800
W: www.bellrock.fm�
T: 0845 601 8266
E: [email protected]

17th July 2014