Estates and Facilities – creating a warm welcome at the Trust

Date: 27 November 2016

Landscaping team
Members of the landscaping team

The Estates and Facilities team is responsible for managing, maintaining and improving property and facilities across the hospital. It comprises more than fifty engineers, planning and development specialists, drivers, security staff, contract managers, laundry and housekeeping staff, porters, gardeners, as well as staff involved with catering, waste management, energy management and medical equipment.

Claire Lowe, Director of Estates and Facilities explains, ‘Having listened to feedback from patients and their families, we are making some big, and not so big, changes at the Trust including more parking spaces for patients and their families. From the moment they arrive, every visitor should experience a warm welcome, and a safe and pleasant experience throughout the time they are here. Our job is to create that experience.’

A number of projects have been launched to improve the hospital estate and facilities, with more in the pipeline:

Relaunch of the housekeeping service

Sylvia Clark, Housekeeping Manager, explains the role of the housekeeping service, ‘Our housekeeping team plays an essential role in helping the Trust to maintain high standards of patient safety and infection control, working closely with clinical teams. It is responsible for a wide range of activities from keeping common areas and bathrooms clean and tidy and handling contamination from spills around the Trust, to working with clinical teams to plan steam cleaning of clinically-sensitive areas such as operating theatres. In this way, housekeeping plays an essential role in maintaining low infection rates and ensuring clinical areas are fit for purpose.’

Landscaping improvements

A priority for the Estates and Facilities team is
creating a safe and welcoming environment for
everyone when they arrive at the Trust. This involves ensuring there is clear, uncluttered signage, that all patient areas are clean and tidy and that the landscaped environment is kept in good order.
The Trust has recently invested in an all-season machine (pictured) which will not only keep the grass cut in summer, but also clear snow from
Trust roads and lay down grit in the winter, creating a safer and more pleasant environment for patients and staff all year round.

New restaurant equipment

As part of plans to improve the restaurant, coffee machines and ovens are being replaced with newer, higher performing models. This is in addition to the new contactless payment machines planned to reduce queues at the tills.

‘These changes are a great start, and we hope these go some way to making things better for staff, patients and their families,’ says Claire.
‘But we know that there is a lot more to do, and we are now beginning to look at plans for the long term. Our ambition is to create a world-class experience at Medway Maritime Hospital for all those who come here.’

Members of the hospital catering team

Laundry team’s rigorous standards help fight infections

Proper laundering and handling of textiles and linens is a crucial tool in infection control. The Trust’s 48-strong laundry team provides freshly washed, folded, and pressed linens to the wards 365 days
a year.

Over five million pieces of linen are processed by the team annually. The Trust also contracts its service to Darent Valley Trust generating revenue that is invested back into its services.

The team ensures that the Trust has resilience plans in place for higher occupancy periods, such as Easter and Christmas. For example, over the recent Easter period, the team increased capacity to produce 22,500 items in two weeks, so that no ward at the Trust ran short of linen.

Members of the hospital catering team
  • Summary:

    The Estates and Facilities team is responsible for managing, maintaining and improving property and facilities across the hospital.