CAMBS Primary Care Trust has moved to reassure staff in the cleaning and portering services at Wisbech's North Cambs Hospital after tendering the service privately.
The Citizen was contacted by a concerned member of staff, who wished to remain anonymous, worried that by tendering out the service, it would mean job losses. At the moment the service is run in-house by staff employed by the NHS.
However, in resp
onse, Jackie Galwey, County Lead for Adult Services at Cambridgeshire Community Services, said the cleaning contract has to be reviewed by April 1, 2009.
She said: “We are, therefore, tendering for a comprehensive cleaning and portering service for all our main sites, which includes North Cambs Hospital.
“We are working with other NHS organisations to achieve a contract that meets the new NHS cleaning standards. I expect we will be in a position to reach a decision on the outcomes of the tendering process at the end of this year.
“The intention is that the new provider of these services will take on existing staff.
“A company which specialised in cleaning will be much better placed than we are to continue to invest in increasingly specialised training for staff and the equipment needed to meet the rigorous cleaning standards required in the NHS.
“We expect the new provider will contribute significantly to the continued quality services at North Cambs Hospital.”
The full article contains 234 words and appears in Fenland Citizen newspaper.
