Peterborough hospital trust consulting with staff after putting services out to tender

Earlier this week union officials said staff at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust ‘face being sold out of the NHS’ following the announcment.

Today, Graham Wilde, Chief Operating Officer for the trust, which along with Peterborough City Hospital also runs Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, said: “We are looking at tendering some of the services that we and our delivery partners are currently providing for Soft Facilities Managment (FM) services at Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals. This is to ensure that we are providing the best value for money for taxpayers while maintaining the high quality services that we and our patients expect.

“These services include the provision of cleaning, catering, portering, linen and security at both Hinchingbrooke Hospital and Stamford and Rutland Hospital, as well as cleaning and linen services within our staff accommodation buildings. The tender process will also include the current cleaning contract for the Robert Horrell Macmillan Centre and off-site Health Records facilities for Peterborough City Hospital.

“In addition to this we are also looking to tender grounds, gardens and pest control services, which will provide services to each of our three main sites.

“We are working closely with approximately 70 Trust staff affected by this process and the existing providers and we will be holding regular staff briefing sessions to keep them updated. We are also meeting regularly with representatives from UNITE and UNISON to discuss any concerns they may have and to ensure that they are aware of the timetable and approach being taken.”