By Ian Ellison, Workplace Geeks
Listen to episode five now: The science of creating healthier and more sustainable spaces
There’s a paradox about facilities management that has been wrestled with since the origins of the sector. On the one hand, the FM industry grows by looking after operational and more organisational elements. This means companies can focus on their core purpose or business, putting all their talent and energy into their direction of travel. It’s clear that for this reason, FM makes good sense.
But on the other, as FM enables the core purpose or business, there’s a risk that it can go unjustly underappreciated or even unacknowledged for the value it brings, and how critical it is to realising an organisation’s goals. This is what I call the FM paradox.
Beyond the paradox
Throughout my time as a university lecturer, I always made the case to our FM students that there is one particular type of workplace where FM’s positive contribution to shared goals is clearer than anywhere else. That workplace is healthcare. Why? Well, without a completely clean and hygienic environment, with patients where they need to be, when they need to be there, there simply cannot be effective healthcare. Clinical staff rely on the teams of cleaners and porters to enable the best patient outcomes. Which means healthcare and facilities management are complementary, even symbiotic – a great word that basically means that when it comes to the relationship, working together makes better sense for both parties.
Transforming healthcare
These ideas are brought to life in episode five of The Science of Service Podcast, presented by me, Ian Ellison, and my co-host, Chris Moriarty. You may also know us as the Workplace Geeks. We visit John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, to explore the realities of enabling healthcare through the eyes of both NHS Trust and Mitie staff. We learn about service and hygiene standards from PFI Contract Manager, Derrick Andrews. Chris is also treated to a tour of the hospital’s spotless corridors and wards with Mitie Account Director, Andrew Sharp. Along the way they bump into a passionate advocate for the service, who becomes a surprise guest on the show. Finally, Chris gets to meet Superman and Minnie Mouse, the Mitie cleaning robots, which make him very happy indeed.
So, if transforming healthcare depends on improved efficiency and effectiveness, we learn that it’s also about transforming the patient experience. Managing Director of Mitie Communities, Alice Woodwark, explains how patient experience can even positively impact patient outcomes. This is reinforced with practical examples from Head of Innovation and Product Development at Mitie’s Cleaning and Hygiene Centre of Excellence, Heather Downes. Based at the CHCE in Birmingham, Heather demonstrates how cleaning innovations are developed for client sites with thorough testing ahead of implementation.
Circling back to climate
To round off the episode, we find ourselves looping all the way back to our first topic of focus in The Science of Service Podcast, climate change. Biotech scientist and Technical Director at Biological Preparations Ltd, John Lear, reveals how some of the most sustainable and climate-friendly cleaning products are now powered by the most primitive organisms on the planet – bacteria. John advises Mitie on biotech applications and explains that harnessing the way certain bacteria create protective films over surfaces reduces the need for harsh chemicals. As Alice Woodwark says: “For the first time, cleaning has genuinely become a science, [which] completely revolutionises the way you think about cleaning.”
Cleaning robots and good bacteria, we salute you.