The new contract starts this October, and is worth over £240 million. Sodexo’s 1,900 staff will continue to deliver services at Wythenshawe Hospital, as well as at the Trust’s Oxford Road Campus, which includes Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, the University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Manchester Royal Infirmary, the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and Saint Mary’s Hospital for Women and Neonates.
Services include, patient dining, retail catering, portering, domestic services, receipt and distribution, helpdesk, and transport. As part of the new contract Sodexo will be introducing a number of infection prevention initiatives – including SureWash hand hygiene training technology, a system that it says can teach and assess hand hygiene technique and deliver Infection Prevention and Control education, as well as black light testing to aid in detecting hidden pathogens on surfaces such as walls, furniture, and high-touch areas.
Sodexo has operated at Wythenshawe Hospital since 1999, and the Oxford Road Campus since 2008. On all sites, the FM company manages a number of food outlets, including Subway, Costa, and Starbucks, and will continue to deliver its Kithen Works by Sodexo offer at staff and visitor restaurants at both sites.
Rob Jepson, the Trust’s Group director of Estates and Facilities, said: “It is our vision for our hospitals to be the best place for patient quality and experience, and the best place to work, and we rely on our partners such as Sodexo to deliver this. Sodexo has been a valued partner for many years, and we are confident that its dedicated team will support us in our vision. We look forward to working in partnership for another four years.”