Serco and NNUH share top cleanliness award

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and its partner Serco have won an award for cleaning from the Health Business Awards 2011, which recognise excellence in the provision of NHS and healthcare facilities.

The clean hospital award was presented in December 2011 after the judges from the Health Business Awards made an unannounced inspection of the hospital and looked at data from other organisations such as the National Patient Safety Agency.

Anna Dugdale, Chief Executive says: “Our teams work very hard to keep our hospital clean and this award is the result of successful partnership working with Serco colleagues.

“To keep us focussed on what matters for patients, we’re constantly monitoring standards we do that with the help of many people including patient representatives, nurses and Serco staff.”

Nayab Haider, Contracts Director for Serco, says: “Everyone is actively involved to ensure the best possible performance and continuous improvement. In this way, we’re constantly focused on providing a clean and well maintained environment for patients that makes all the difference to the quality of the time they spend with us.”

Innovative initiatives undertaken by the Hospital’s cleaning teams include the use of highly advanced micro-fibre cleaning systems, a sustainable audit approach that precisely measures the positive impact of cleaning, digital monitoring signs, advanced Dyson ‘Air Blade’ hand-dryers, electronic hand sanitisers and the ATP (adenosine triphosphate test) that precisely and rapidly measures the presence of fast-growing micro-organisms. New innovations currently in the pipeline include the introduction of an atomiser that works with the existing cleaning system to kill and form long-term protection against bacteria and spores, as well as special anti-microbial paint and curtains.

The NNUH serves a population of around 750,000 people and has worked with Serco since 2000 (please confirm), when the company took over responsibility for its cleaning and other facilities management (FM) services.

Editor’s notes

About Serco
Serco is a FTSE 100 international service company, which combines commercial know-how with a deep public service ethos.

We improve services by managing people, processes, technology and assets more effectively. We advise policy makers, design innovative solutions, integrate systems and – most of all – deliver to the public.

Serco provides a range of support services to the NHS including cleaning, catering, portering and maintenance services for the NNUH.