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. Meanwhile, the catering team will introduce an electronic meal ordering system to ensure only the correct number of meals are prepared each day, helping to cut food waste.
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. It will work with its catering suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging coming into the hospital in the first instance, as well as committing to source more fresh produce from local businesses. 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, 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.”
Clement Leverd, Director, 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 bring 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, Oxford University Hospitals, 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.”
Notes to editors
About Mitie
Founded in 1987, Mitie’s job is to look after places where Britain works and is the leading facilities management company in the UK. We offer a range of services to Central Government and Defence customers; Communities (Healthcare, Education and Local Authorities); and Technical Services (Engineering Services, Energy, Water and Real Estate Services) and Business Services (Security, Cleaning and Office Services) to Private Sector clients in Financial Services, Manufacturing, Transport, Retail and Telecoms and increasingly to the public sector. Finally, our Specialist Services (Care & Custody, Landscapes and Waste Management) division serves both the public and private sector in these niche businesses.
Mitie acquired Interserve’s FM business in December 2020 and now employs 75,000 people. We are the champion of the ‘Front-Line Heroes’ who have kept Britain working during the COVID-19 pandemic. We take care of our customers’ people and buildings, through the ‘Science of Service’, delivering essential services and deploying industry leading technology to create safe and effective workspaces.
The business continues to execute its technology-led strategy and in the past six months has received multiple awards.
Find out more at www.mitie.com.
