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Welcome
To our Annual Review
for 2023-2024
Who We Are
We provide a wide range of important services to our partners, from estates and facilities operations to business support services. We were established in 2017 by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) and our profits contribute to supporting care in the NHS.
As a limited company we have built a commercial ethos onto our NHS values and now provide our services to other NHS organisations and beyond. We are agile and able to respond to opportunities where the NHS does not have the flexibilities to do so. We are proud of the quality of the services we offer and the part we play in supporting better care.
We are here to make a difference and have a strong social purpose. We support charity work and are driving plans to become carbon net zero and to tackle discrimination and champion equality.
We have a solid track record of service delivery and have grown the range and scope of services we offer since we were established. We have a strong team of people and are confident we can continue to add value and make a difference into the future.
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Members of staff at NTW Solutions
NTW Solutions is a perfect example of what an NHS subsidiary company should be.
What We Do
Estates Services
Managed healthcare facilities, operational estates, management of capital projects, property portfolio and space management, PFI contract management, maintenance of medical devices, sustainability and energy, town planning advice, and fire safety management.
Facilities Services
Domestic services, portering, laundry and linen, patient catering, cafés, switchboard and reception services, security, car park management, and transport and logistics.
Clinical Support Services
Outpatient pharmacy, patient finance, digital transcription, and materials management
Business Support Services
Lease cars and staff benefits, workforce, legal and governance services, performance, risk and assurance, finance, procurement, communication and engagement and management consultancy.
Our Strategy
Our strategy was launched in 2021 and runs through to this current year, 2024. We have been working to review and refresh our strategy for the coming years. This is the last year that our annual review will relate to the 2021-24 version of our Strategy.
The overall company strategy is to support our partners to deliver better care by:
Being the collaborative partner of choice
Embedding our values in everything we do
Tackling the climate emergency
Developing a culture of quality and innovation
Being a great and inclusive place to work
We have the strategy at the centre of what we do, and our Leadership Team meeting is structured around our strategic aims, as is this Annual Review.
Our Values
Our values are important to us, and we strive to live by them every day and have them front and centre in all we do.
At NTW Solutions we are:
Caring and Compassionate
Respectful
Honest and
Transparent
Being the Collaborative
Partner of Choice
Delivered the Flagship Sycamore Unit
We delivered the flagship Sycamore Unit at Northgate Park in Morpeth. The unit is a 72 bed medium secure facility which has set the standard for mental health design nationally. The unit is designed around is central courtyard for sport and exercise and art and therapeutic design principles are integrated throughout.
Opened Wearmouth View
Wearmouth View is the new heart of Monkwearmouth Hospital. It provides a range of office space and meeting rooms as well as flexible spaces for staff to work together and collaborate. The building is bright and includes a bright new welcoming reception, café, and new public spaces.
The Transcription Team and the service as a whole make a massive difference in my clinical work. The time saved between patients by being able to dictate a letter means more clinical time for patients and much less stress for me.
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Email queries responded to by the Electronic Staff Record Team
Handover of Benton House
Benton house has been refurbished to provide accommodation for a range of clinical teams that were previously spread across different sites. The building contains modern high specification office space as well as places for people to meet and work together. The building is now bright modern and welcoming and has been hugely welcomed by the staff who are now based there.
Introduced New Medical Devices Management Service
We now directly deliver the service maintaining medical devices across CNTW. Bringing this service into NTW Solutions has led to an immediate increase in the responsiveness of the service and customer feedback has been positive. The service has been integrated into our wider work around estates compliance, providing additional assurance to CNTW.
Our assessors were so impressed with the materials management service that you provide and how all you do frees us up to offer more for our patients
Delivering Services in Cumbria
Over the past year we have taken on the direct provision of facilities services, outpatient pharmacy and patient finance across north Cumbria. A huge amount of work went into bringing the teams into the company and those teams now benefit from being part of a wider team of staff doing the same tasks across the northeast. We also started to manage the estates services in Cumbria, all of the staff working in this area are employed by CNTW.
Providing a Warm Reception
Tracey Sopp, our Managing Director, found out how important the patient cashier service is in supporting better care on a recent visit to the team
Work Placements for Service Users
Some of our teams provide work experience placements to those receiving care from CNTW. This includes examples at Northgate Park where staff have worked tirelessly to offer placements in the portering teams, the café and we are hoping to expand this into the domestic teams in the future. We receive extremely positive feedback from the clinical teams about the placements and the difference they make to those who take part.
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Purchase orders sent to 1,319 different suppliers
Huge thank you to the ESR Team for helping me out to sort an urgent query for one of my staff members; both of us are so incredibly grateful!
Carleton Clinic Capital Development
Work has taken place to refurbish and redevelop the facilities at Carleton Clinic, Carlisle. The work will provide a much improved environment for the clinical teams. The work will reconfigure layouts to improve the way areas link together and improve the way areas function and the work incorporates many of the design principles pioneered in the Sycamore Unit.
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Views of our posts on Facebook
Ferndene Capital Development
Refurbishment and redevelopment at Ferndene brought together clinical services for children and young people in a move welcomed by staff and patients. Work is ongoing to deliver further work to align the building to the clinical needs of the teams on site.
Materials Management in Cumbria
We have started to roll out materials management into Cumbria with extremely positive initial feedback from the clinical teams who now benefit from this service. It has gone live on one ward at Carleton Clinic and is already in place at smaller sites across Cumbria. As with all our materials management services we know that this saves clinical time and is hugely appreciated by the teams.
I would like to thank you and the whole Property Team for the amazing job you have done helping to create a fantastic place to work. You should be very proud!
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Hours transcribed from dictations received from CNTW staff
New Customers for Transcription Team
Our Transcription Team continues to grow through word of mouth as the quality of the service provided speaks for itself and clinical teams recommend the service to others. This organic growth helps the team to adjust to new demand in a way which ensures the high quality service is maintained at all times. Feedback remains incredibly strong for the service and the clinical teams appreciate the time it saves them.
I would like to thank you and the whole Property Team for the amazing job you have done helping to create a fantastic place to work. You should be very proud
Embedding our values in everything we do
MopHeads Release Charity Single
Two of our talented domestics at Saint Nicholas hospital released a single for the trust charitable funds which was inspired by the experience of working within the NHS during the COVID pandemic. They have performed the song live as well as teaching themselves new skills like producing a music video to go with the single. They are looking to continue to raise funds as well as release new singles in the future.
New Digital Tools Rolled Out
We have rolled out a digital staff handbook, managers toolkit and digital induction on our intranet using the features we have within Microsoft 365 such as videos and other interactive elements. These new tools give staff managers and new recruits all the information they need right at their fingertips in an easy and accessible format.
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Planned maintenance jobs carried out by our Estates Teams
We would like today a huge thank you to the Walkergate Park Café team for how supportive, flexible, and helpful they are to the young people and their families who attend our services. We even have families who make special trips to go to the café.
Deepened Staff Engagement
We have increased the sites where we do our face to face staff forums and we have introduced fortnightly online manager forums to increase information sharing. We have also delivered a series of director visits to teams and services. These visits allow teams to show off what they do and allows directors more time with staff. We also publish stories from the visits which allow other people in the company to find out more about what other teams do and to showcase their work.
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Invoices processed
Pulse Surveys Launched
We have introduced a series of pulse surveys which follow up on the staff survey and ask people for more detail about the practical things we can change as a result of their feedback. We hope to either continue the use of the pulse surveys or to integrate the additional questions into the staff survey itself. Importantly we will be working through the suggestions and making changes as a result.
Job Descriptions Transformed
We have revolutionised the way we present job descriptions for people who are thinking of joining the company or looking to move into a different role. We have transformed the format into more of an application brochure which talks about the job in simple clear terms and also highlights the benefits of working here and who we are as a company, including sharing our values and why they are important to us in the recruitment process.
The ESR team have made lots of changes to the system this week following a big organisational change, and have been so amenable, helpful and brilliant
Support for Local Chair-ity
We have supported ReCoCo in Newcastle with surplus furniture from Northgate Park following the redevelopment work there. This allows them to provide a broader range of events and meetings at their site in central Newcastle, potentially adding an additional income stream for them. It also is a potential venue for meetings for CNTW and NTW Solutions to use, as well as saving the furniture going to waste.
The Easter Bunny Visits Ferndene
One of our staff members in the estates department went above and beyond this year to bring a little extra joy to the young people on the wards. At Christmas he donated advent calendars to all the children, and this Easter he bought every single patient an Easter egg. The staff and service users have all shared their thanks for his kindness and the positivity he brought to the hospital.
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Coffees served in our cafés
The estates team are exceptional at Walkergate Park! The team are a credit to the you. Nothing is too much trouble. They are a very amazing and helpful team.
I would like to go on record and say a big thank you for everything you have done about my previous lease car and the start of my new lease car. The change around went very smoothly yesterday, and you are an extremely professional team.
Tackling the Climate Emergency
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Application forms processed by our recruitment team
Northern Powerhouse
We continue to work on our plans to become carbon net zero and this builds on our work over many years. We have been working to clean, repair and maintain our solar electricity generation equipment which is spread across many of our sites. In fact, we already generate more solar energy than any other mental health trust.
Boost for Biodiversity
We continue to plant trees across our sites and care for our green spaces in a way which
encourages biodiversity and keeps them looking at their best. This includes a great deal of work which has taken place at Hopewood Park where we have planted 2000 shrubs, which were carefully chosen to be good for pollinators, an enrich the experience on the site with colours and scents.
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Trees planted this year
I’ve worked for the Trust now for about 8 years when I started I constantly pestered the Procurement Team, not knowing what I was doing! All staff I have dealt with have always been helpful.
New cycle facilities developed
We have continued to improve the cycle facilities on our sites to give people greater choice and the opportunity to choose sustainable travel where possible. This includes state-of-the-art cycle facilities at Benton House. This includes safe and secure cycle storage as well as showers and space for people to get changed and store their things.
No Mow May
We look after some wonderful green spaces and we want to make sure that they are the best they can be
No Mow May
We again set aside space on our main sites to take part in no more may where the grass was left longer to encourage wild flowers to grow through. We know that we have a range of wildflower species that grow on our sites when the grass is left. We also look at spaces which can be left for longer, or places where we can turn them over to tree cover in the future.
Greening our Fleet
The majority of our fleet are ultra low emission vehicles with over a third being purely electric. Over 90% of new vehicles coming into the fleet are ultra low emission vehicles. We have also installed new electric chargers on our main sites and will expand this network when possible to do so in the future.
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Reactive repair and maintenance jobs our estates teams carried out
The Outpatient Pharmacy Team have outstanding attention to detail and the team are repeatedly acknowledged as specialists when it comes to service delivery and patient safety
Developing a Culture of Quality and Innovation
Domestic Onboarding
We delivered a project with people from a range of teams to make the recruitment and retention of domestics more successful. This included refreshing the job description and looking at how we advertise. It also considered the induction process and how we look after people who are new to the team.
The Reception Team are the heart of St George's Park! I honestly do not know how we would operate without them. They are the eyes and ears of the site and no request is too much, and nothing is outside of their bounds
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Lease car quotes produced for customers
Café Branding and Promotion
We have worked hard to promote our cafés with new consistent branding being rolled out as well as a range of communications about specials and deals on offer. We are refreshing the branding in the cafés themselves as well as improving the intranet pages.
Finance Award Win
NTW Solutions Finance Team has been awarded the prestigious Small Team of the Year Award at the HFMA Awards. The award recognises the contribution that the finance team has made in promoting and improving teamwork, innovation, collaboration, wellbeing and inclusion. In addition, a longstanding member of the team was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Days clinical teams get back by using our Transcription Team
Procurement Skills Success
Two members of the NTW Solutions Procurement Team have achieved success by competing a trio of courses and qualifications to develop customer service skills and deepen their specialist expertise. This includes an NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service, achieving a distinction, and a team member attending a six day Regulated Procurement Academy masterclass, as well as completing the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Ethics Overview Course.
The Estates Team at the Hadrian Clinic really are one of a kind. We ring them non stop and they always turn up with a smile on their face! They are amazing with the patients and go above and beyond to help us out
The Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework accreditation
Our Procurement Team have completed an NHS England and Cabinet Office led Procurement assessment. The CCIAF tool is designed to help drive continuous improvement in commercial practice across the public sector. The process involved us submitting evidence for circa 250 competence areas across 8 key themes. We received a final rating of ‘good’ and we were the first Procurement team in the region to complete this assessment.
The Reception Team are the heart of St George's Park! I honestly do not know how we would operate without them. They are the eyes and ears of the site and no request is too much, and nothing is outside of their bounds
Cutting food waste
We’re cutting food waste with the help of a new system which had been developed in-house. New electronic forms to collect food waste data are used by staff on iPads they had already been issued with. The database is then used to create a Dashboard with reports using both charts and tables, which performs all of the calculations automatically. Anomalies in waste can be easily identified, and the relevant staff can investigate why the waste is being generated.
New Transcription System
The Transcription Team have moved over to a new system which gave the team chance to update dictating practices to enhance information governance even further. There was no interruption to the service offered and the quality of the service was maintained throughout.
Our Domestic always brings us a smile, is full of energy and nothing is too much trouble for her. We are delighted to have us look after us so very well each day. She is a credit NTW solutions.
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ID badges printed for staff
Being a Great and Inclusive Place To Work
Good Work Pledge Win
We have been awarded a Good Work Pledge Award from the North of Tyne Combined Authority. The award recognises our commitment to providing good work for our employees in a range of areas from staff engagement to health and wellbeing. The pledge consists of two levels, standard and advanced, and we achieved the advanced level award.
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Prescriptions processed by our outpatient pharmacy each month
The Individual Placement and Support Service are really proud and grateful to work with NTW Solutions and some of our most life-changing stories have come from people starting their work journey and choosing a career with NTW Solutions.
Show Racism the Red Card Partnership
We partnered with north east based charity Show Racism the Red Card to roll out anti racism training to our teams. Hundreds of people from across the company took part on all our main sites and online across all of our teams. The training covered a range of topics including the history off some offensive terms and why they should not be used as well as topics such as microaggressions.
UNISON Anti-racism Charter Signed
We have signed UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter which commits the company and its leaders to a range of pledges designed to prevent discrimination. The charter includes equality training, championing a racially diverse workforce, and having a clear programme of anti-racist initiatives.
May I take this opportunity to thank the person who hand delivered my bus pass to my home. It was much appreciated to make sure I could travel to work
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Calls made to switchboard at St Nicholas Hospital
Menopause Café Launched
We introduced a menopause protocol which outlines the support we give to those who are going through the menopause, and gives advice and guidance to managers to help support people. A group of staff have come together to form a menopause support group and are meeting together on different sites so people can access this support easily
International Women’s Day Celebrated
This year we marked international Women’s Day by looking at some of the women across our estates teams. We have women working in a wide range of roles in estates and we focused on this area because traditionally they have been male dominated jobs and we want to focus on where we have increased diversity, and the potential to increase this further in the future.
Disability Confident Recognition
We are pleased to have been officially recognised by the government as a Disability Confident Employer for the third year in a row. This important designation underscores our commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment for individuals with disabilities and long term health conditions.
At Café Willow the team do a fantastic supporting the patients and staff who use it The y provide a valuable service to the hospital and deliver a good service beyond any expectations. The staff provide a valuable service to the hospital and deliver a good service beyond any expectations.
Manager Training Programme
We have introduced an extensive suite of courses for managers which are tailored to their needs and to the specific circumstances of managing staff within NTW solutions. The training is delivered in house across our main sites and all of the details are contained within an online training hub on the Internet where we are showing an increasing range of resources to keep managers up skilled with the latest developments in the workplace.
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Sheets pass through the Northgate Park Laundry to be washed and pressed
Thank you to our portering team for maintaining a safe and clean environment for staff and patients. They always hav e a happy disposition and are always willing to help.
Our Staff Awards
Below are the individuals and teams from across NTW Solutions nominated in the CNTW Staff Awards. We send huge congratulations to all nominees.
Individual of the Year Nominees
Sarah Back
Colleagues say Sarah’s knowledge is second to none. Others say Sarah impresses with her prompt feedback and
guidance on the recruitment process. She is patient and always there to respond to new recruits.
Peter Forster
Peter has been praised for his hard work and politeness. One word that comes up time and time again when
colleagues describe Peter is helpful. No request is too big or too small, Peter always wants to help!
Moira Graham
Domestic assistant Moira is always smiling and full of energy. She takes immense pride in her work, and nothing is too much trouble. She has been described as a credit to the domestic services department.
Lottie Haylock
Colleagues have praised Lottie for her enthusiasm and kindness, saying she has helped boost staff morale. Even when inundated with demands, she remains warm and welcoming to everyone she meets.
Team of the Year Nominees
Grounds and Gardens Team: South Sector
The gardening team work hard all year round to ensure Hopewood Park makes a good first impression for patients and visitors. The hard work of the gardening team has helped in people’s recovery and means there is something in the grounds for everyone to enjoy, patients and staff alike.
Monkwearmouth Domestic Services
An inspirational team, who work well together to very high standards. Each day is different and there are always challenges and changes to manage, which is always done with a smile. They work hard together, keeping services immaculate, always to the best of their ability.
The
Property
Team
The property team have worked incredibly hard to accommodate staff coming back to work. They pride themselves in listening to the concerns and needs of teams to ensure they have a great place to work. It’s clear they care deeply about the service they deliver.
St George's
Park
Reception
Described as the heart of St George’s, colleagues say they don’t know how they would function without the reception team. They are the first port of call when people come to St George’s Park and are always there to greet staff, patients and visitors alike with a smile.
And the Winners are...
Sarah Back
St George's Park Reception
Congratulations!
A Message from the Chair
& the Managing Director
We are both extremely proud to welcome you to our 2023/24 Annual Review and it’s truly inspiring to see a snapshot of our achievements over the year presented here. Each of these achievements is due to the culmination of a huge amount of work and collaboration across our all of teams. Our first reflection is it’s hard to believe how much we have packed into a year.
Our second reflection is that as a company with a core purpose of supporting better care, that this runs visibly right throughout this review. It is visible in the fantastic new buildings we have delivered and the everyday work of maintaining clean and safe environments.
Our third reflection is that we work best when we work together as a team of support services and there are some great examples in this review where almost all of our services needed to collaborate to deliver a large scale project, such as the Sycamore Unit at Northgate. It is a fantastic achievement, notably for our Capital Team, to complete the most challenging project they have ever undertaken. And then we saw it seamlessly operationalised by our other estates teams and facilities teams, all of this supported by our business support teams such as Workforce who helped recruit the staff who now work there.
Our final reflection is that everyone at NTW Solutions should be truly proud of their achievements in such a successful year. We certainly are.
Looking ahead, something else we have been busy with this year is reviewing our strategy and this is the last annual review using our 2021-2024 strategy. We hope you find this review interesting and that you enjoy sharing in some of our successes.
Malcolm Aiston
Tracey Sopp
Thank you for reading!
Registered Address
Arran House
St Nicholas Hospital
Jubilee Road
Gosforth
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE3 3XT
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NTW Solutions Limited is a wholly owned subsidary of Cumbria, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Registered Company Number 10458774. VAT Registration Number 262 2761 11
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