The cleaning at St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein and Utrecht is managed in-house. To monitor this service, the Facilities & Real Estate department uses the Daily Control System (DKS). Recently, they have also started using a software application from GRIP – Facility Data Solutions, a software partner of the cleaning consultancy Atir, which makes inspections more efficient, transparent, and professional.
The cleaning maintenance at the St. Antonius Hospital locations in Utrecht and Nieuwegein is managed internally, except for the outpatient clinics in Nieuwegein. The work is divided into two employee groups. The nursing departments are cleaned by room service staff, who are also responsible for providing food to patients, supplying materials to the departments (such as bandages and linen), and delivering mail. The other areas are maintained by cleaning staff who only perform cleaning tasks and are supervised by team leaders and pre-workers. They are managed by Wenny Braam, head of the Services department. St. Antonius Hospital has consciously chosen to operate its own cleaning service. Wenny explains, “We manage part of the cleaning in-house because we believe it allows us to respond more flexibly to the needs of our customers. The service is handled professionally at our locations. In 2012, we developed a tailored cleaning training program with SVS, using course materials specifically designed for St. Antonius Hospital. This training is well received by our staff and contributes to the professional execution of the tasks.”
DKS Software
A next step in the professionalization of the in-house cleaning service was the structured assessment of technical quality. For this, St. Antonius Hospital began using VSR-DKS (the Daily Control System developed by the Cleaning Research Association). This inspection system helps staff optimize the execution process. Wenny says, “We started by having the measurements carried out by an independent employee and manually processing the results. Then, I developed an app for smartphones to immediately get the results into an Excel file, making the process more efficient. In early 2015, we began discussions with Rob Toorenburgh, a consultant at Atir. He advised us on various cleaning issues. During this conversation, we were introduced to GRiP, a web-based platform for dashboard reporting that, with supporting applications, can provide insights into the performance of various facility services.” Wenny decided to start a pilot with the DKS app, which allows DKS measurements to be taken via a tablet. “The results of the measurements are immediately visible in the GRiP dashboard. The dashboard provides an overall view of the cleaning quality in the hospital. If necessary, we can zoom in on a department or even task level.” After the successful pilot, they decided to purchase GRiP for the entire hospital. Wenny believes the strength of the system lies in the direct insights provided by the dashboard. “It shows whether the quality standards we agreed upon with our clients are being met. If the score is too low, adjustments can be made immediately, and a re-measurement will take place to determine if the standard has been achieved. The results of the measurements also serve as the basis for conversations with our clients and the staff executing the work. As a department, we set a target score of 8.5. It’s high, but we want to provide a high level of service to our clients. And we’re able to deliver that, as demonstrated by the average score, which is above 9.0.”
Inventory
To monitor cleaning quality, each department at St. Antonius Hospital is measured four times a year by Hermanda van der Lingen. Hermanda is responsible for ensuring the correct quality level, along with other facility tasks. The DKS provides her with support and insights to monitor quality daily. Hermanda explains, “Since we want a numerical result, it’s important to count the elements in a room. This was challenging at first (since all the elements that must be cleaned according to the cleaning program had to be inventoried), but now that it’s done, it saves me a lot of time.” This is a result of both the inventory and automation. “It was a bit of a learning curve to use a tablet for the measurements, but now I can do twenty to twenty-five measurements per week, while it used to be around four to five. The element list (such as one chair, one soap dispenser, one waste bin) has also been adjusted to the specific department. For example, you’ll find different elements in the operating room department than on a regular nursing floor or in common areas.”
Technical Issues
In addition to assessing cleaning quality through DKS, Wenny also wanted insight into any technical issues with the building. “For efficiency, it was preferable to map this at the same time as the DKS measurement. To accommodate this, an additional error code named ‘Facilities’ was added to the system. The inspector can note, for example, a broken door handle or damaged wall as an issue. This issue is, of course, not included in the final cleaning score. If technical deficiencies are identified, the report is immediately forwarded to the Real Estate department, which takes care of addressing the identified issues.”
