Mitie has been awarded a new contract to provide cleaning, portering services, and catering for patients and staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Worth £92.5m over five years, the contract has the option to extend for up to 15 years at five-year intervals. The appointment follows a value testing exercise carried out between The Hospital Company Limited (THC) and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, as part of the existing John Radcliffe PFI arrangement.
Part of OUH, John Radcliffe Hospital has over 800 beds and an occupied floor space of 142,000m2. The 700-strong team of cleaners, porters, catering assistants and ward hosts will play a vital role in ensuring that the hospital’s acute medical and surgical, trauma, and intensive care services are able to keep running and supporting patients and clinical staff. The contract builds on Mitie’s existing presence at OUH, having provided security and car parking services across the Trust since 2008.
Mitie will bring its technology-led approach to the contract, with the introduction of new systems across all services. This will include the use of a cutting-edge task scheduling, prioritisation and indoor location monitoring software. When support with key tasks, such as patient transfers or cleaning is needed, clinical teams will be able to raise a request on the system, which will alert the closest available Mitie colleague. This will help efficiently manage clinical staff’s time and tasks, improving the overall patient experience.
Mitie will also install sensor technology to monitor footfall, ensuring that the busiest parts of the hospital are prioritised for cleaning, as well as the introduction of autonomous scrubber dryer robots, freeing up the team’s time to focus on more specialist tasks such as sanitising high touchpoint areas.
Supporting social value and the local community will also be central to the contract. The Mitie team will help reduce the hospital’s environmental impact by switching to chemical-free cleaning products wherever possible and removing all single-use plastics from its catering services. The team will support work placements for at least 10 individuals every year through the Mitie Foundation's Ready2Work scheme, which supports people with barriers to employment or from disadvantaged groups.
Alice Woodwark, Managing Director, Communities at Mitie, said: “We are very pleased to be building on our existing support for the John Radcliffe Hospital with this new contract. 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.”
Sam Foster, Chief Nursing Officer and Executive Director lead for Estates & Facilities, OUH, said: “We look forward to working closely with Mitie to enhance our Soft Facilities Management services on the John Radcliffe Hospital site for the benefit of both patients and staff. 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.”
