It seems like such a long time ago when NTW Solutions answered the call to help at the Nightingale Hospital North East, we have been on standby, waiting for the call to say the Hospital will be operational, we have received a call but not quite the call we expected…
Our teams are supporting the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week, as one of 32 vaccination centres, as the health service continues to accelerate the biggest immunisation programme in its history!
Our staff have said they feel energised and excited to take on this new challenge, changing hours where needed and taking on extra duties. They have received positive feedback from patients and staff for their ever cheerful can do attitude.
In the photo above we have Peter Bryant and Louise Williams providing a great service on reception.
Nightingale Hospital on standby
NTW Solutions Nightingale journey began when our Managing Director, Malcolm Aiston received a phone call From Newcastle Hospitals requesting help to provide Estates and Facilities provision at a field Hospital, which would become The Nightingale Hospital North East (opened in May 2020).
The process started with our Workforce Team putting out an advert, to recruit would be domestics and porters in the middle of lockdown, we received over 100 applicants in the first day from all walks of life. People who had been furloughed, retired and people who just wanted to help out at this unprecedented time, they came from lots of different work backgrounds, including engineers, finance managers, debt collectors, teachers, students, quantity surveyor to name a few.
We have 3 domestics and 3 porters on each shift 24 hours, seven days a week. The porters are also responsible for carrying out tasks such as flushing, fire checks, and medical gas checks as well as manning reception and other more traditional porter duties.
This amazing facility is not just sitting empty waiting on standby, it’s being used every day by NHS staff from all over the region, to hold socially distanced meetings, training sessions, away days, conferences and medical student inductions. We have received lots of positive feedback, about the facility itself and our helpful staff, we have built good relationships with other trusts such as Newcastle Hospitals who we work closely with every day, Choice Facilities Services who work in partnership with south Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, who monitor medical Gases for us and Geoffrey Robinson who deal with our maintenance, along with other local companies, making this a truly collaborative effort from across the region.
This is a comment from a trainer following a course in September:
“I can’t finish without praising your on-site staff. The domestic, porters and security people could not have been more helpful and efficient.
Thank you, once again for allowing us to use Nightingale North East and good luck with whatever the future has in store for you.”
One thing we all have in common here is our dedication to NTW Solutions and the Nightingale Hospital, to make this a great place to work, being respectful to each other and everyone who walks through the doors, being caring, compassionate, transparent and honest, our staff have an amazing rapport with each other and long lasting friendships have been formed.
