Managers at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre and City hospitals have already recruited 50 extra cleaners after breaking ties with a private company.
Carillion had a £200 million-a-year deal to clean both sites, but Nottingham University Hospitals Trust announced in November it wanted to break from the agreement after serious concerns over cleaning standards.
Both sides then negotiated a “managed exit” from the contract allowing Carillion cleaning staff to move ‘in-house’ to the trust.
The trust confirmed this was completed in full as planned on Friday (March 31), and revealed it had already recruited an extra 50 staff on top of the Carillion complement to help keep wards clean.
Trust chair Louise Scull wrote in a blog post to staff: “A line in the sand has been drawn. We are now focused firmly on the future and importantly, on improving service standards where this is necessary, including cleanliness at our hospitals.
“Our hospitals could not operate without our estates and facilities staff. These 1,100 colleagues are valued members of ‘Team NUH’ and play an important role in the Trust’s future as we strive to continue to further improve the experience of our patients, their families and carers.”
The 50 extra staff could be joined by more if other staffing gaps are spotted, the trust said.
Ms Scull also added the trust will have extra people “walking the shop floor” this weekend (April 1 and 2) to help staff cope with any teething problems during the switch over.
