HSJ Awards 2018: HSJ Partnership of The Year

Sodexo – Sodexo and University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust

A merger is rarely a straightforward proposition. But the coming together of parts of the failing Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust with University Hospital of North Staffordshire Trust was naturally much more challenging than most. The stakes were high, with a large amount of attention fixed on the new organisation.

As a facilities management partner, Sodexo is said to have been an important part of this transition. The firm had started working with University Hospital of North Staffordshire Trust in 2007, forming a private finance initiative partnership in 2012 when it became the facilities management provider to the trust, but the merger presented a new challenge.

The evidence suggests it has been risen to. Among the services Sodexo now provides to the trust are patient and visitor catering, cleaning and infection prevention, security, portering, reception, waste and maintenance. The partnership has seen the joint appointment of an estates and facilities matron, a catering dietitian to ensure consistent satisfaction with inpatient catering, and the joint purchase of new equipment to support improved patient experience.

Such collaboration is said to have contributed over £5 million to the trust’s cost improvement plan. The organisation has also recorded above average scores in Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE), and the Care Quality Commission has commended the trust for innovative practice in estates and facilities.

Read a detailed case study about this project at HSJ Solutions