Elis - The Thread Issue 1 Summer 2024 - Flipbook - Page 29
28
The new contract was mobilised
across the sites on 1 July 2023,
with plans to extend the service to
Moorfield Eye Hospital going forward.
It includes the provision of healthcare
linen to all facilities, along with
reusable surgical gowns and receiver
packs to Whittington Hospital.
Each person who uses scrub suits is issued with a
credit allocation for the machines, and must return
their soiled sets in order to reset their credits and
access new sets. As well as ensuring high standards
of infection control are maintained, this is helping
to control usage of the garments by preventing
unauthorised personnel from accessing them.
Dan Euston, Estates and Facilities Contract
Manager for the South West London Consortium,
comments: “The contract mobilisation was
seamless and was managed via tracking and
weekly calls to ensure a smooth implementation.
Since then, we have received excellent levels of on
time in full deliveries from Elis and are very satisfied
with the service.
“The on-site teams are extremely proactive and
always happy to help, and we also have regular
communication with the Customer Relationship
Manager and Account Director who oversee
the contract to ensure high levels of efficiency
are maintained across our sites in terms of linen
management.”
Products are supplied as part of Elis’s Total Linen
Management (TLM) service, which includes a
dedicated Elis team on site to manage deliveries
and collections, stock levels and ward audits.
All items are reprocessed at the company’s
Dartford facility, with deliveries and collections
taking place five days a week and 24-hour
contingency stock held on site. The contract also
covers the laundering of a number of customerowned items, including curtains and clothing.
The contract mobilisation was successful, ensuring
a smooth transition with the TUPE (Transfer
of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
Regulations) of all relevant staff completed to
include inductions and training. Following the
transition all sites now operate to standard KPIs and
reporting procedures, resulting in smoother central
management of the contract.
Elis has also been working with the Consortium to
manage staff uniforms. Previous challenges had
included long delays issuing these, significant stock
build-up and limited cost control. Part of the tender
included an innovation fund which was used to
fund three scrub suit machines to be used across
the sites, which have helped to deliver significant
savings on scrub usage.
Nick Barton, Healthcare and Hospitality Director
UK at Elis, adds: “The opportunity to widen the
scope of our work with the Consortium has proved
extremely beneficial. One aspect that has been
particularly successful is the implementation of the
scrub suit dispensers. Normally, these machines are
expected to generate a 10 – 15% saving on scrub
usage but, in this case, we have seen savings of
up to 30% compared to when the scrub suits were
stored on racking or trolleys where they could be
accessed by unauthorised personnel.
“Going forward, we will be completing a Customer
Flow Review with the Consortium at the end of this
quarter as part of our ongoing Healthcare Textile
Improvement Programme. This will involve taking
steps to understand current linen management
practises and proactively reduce losses, resulting
in associated cost savings across the various sites.
Having sustained substantial linen loss charges from
a previous supplier, this is an area where we can
deliver significant benefits to help the Consortium
operate as efficiently as possible.”