Engineering and Support Services

The 2021-22 financial year brought more than its share of interesting tasks and exciting challenges, especially with regards to the need to be flexible, adaptive and creative in engineering and support services.

The combined teams met every challenge and fulfilled their goals and objectives in support of St Andrew’s.

Engineering and Support Services consists of the:

• Facility management services • Engineering and maintenance services • Minor and major projects • Biomedical services • Dietary services • Cleaning services • Security services • Waste management and grounds maintenance services • Lease (property) management • Management of service level agreements (hospital plant and clinical equipment)

Maintenance

The Maintenance Department provides preventative and corrective maintenance services to the hospital, including the predictive and remedial components of the plant, equipment, the built form and environs.

Engineering Services Master Plan (ESMP)

The ESMP is a program that the hospital has committed to, ensuring all major fixed plant and equipment throughout the hospital is replaced or upgraded in a timely and efficient manner.

Projects completed for this year (Year 7 of the ESMP), include:

• Replacement of sewer stacks (ongoing) • Back flow prevention devices (ongoing) • Refurbishment of patient rooms (from shared ensuites to rooms with dedicated individual ensuites (ongoing)) • Fire compartment barrier upgrades (ongoing) • Continuation of the program to update and replace the water reticulation plant and infrastructure (ongoing) • Replacement and relocation of the boiler feedwater infrastructure • Continuation of the next stage of updating the fire protection system to addressable heads (ongoing)

Dietary Services

Since 2005, St Andrew’s has been one of the few Australian hospitals to retain Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) accreditation.

This high standard of meal service is provided by our Dietary Services Department on a paddock-to-plate basis, where meals are all freshly cooked and designed by dieticians to support patients’ needs such as modified textures and special dietary foods including gluten free, lactose free, low potassium, and low fibre, high protein modified consistencies.

With the prolonged impact of COVID-19 limiting some of the staff cafeteria patronage, we have introduced take-away meals. The same quality food is available to be taken from the hospital in purpose-made containers.

Biomedical Engineering Services

St Andrew’s Biomedical Engineering Services Department is staffed by three qualified and experienced biomedical engineers who have continued to supply an excellent standard of service, providing invaluable support to the new and exciting technologies being employed in St Andrew’s theatres. In particular, our biomedical engineers have contributed to all cardiac procedures performed in St Andrew’s over the year.

Security Guard Services

This year we have enjoyed the in-house security guard service. The advent of our own in-house security service (which began in April 2021) has proved to be a major benefit to the hospital. The team have quickly settled into the hospital community while providing a friendly efficient service to us all.

Cleaning Services

Having recently celebrated eight years of association, ISS Healthcare Services has continued to provide a high level of cleaning services to St Andrew’s. ISS Key Account Manager, Cathy Palmer, recently retired after providing outstanding cleaning services to the hospital for many years.

It’s with a great deal of pleasure the hospital welcomes newly-appointed ISS Key Account Services Manager, Elizabeth (Liz) Day, and ISS Cleaning Services Site Supervisor, Suzana Radenovic. Liz and Suzana are quickly learning the many requirements of St Andrew’s with respect to cleaning services.

In addition to the provision of the cleaning services (which is inclusive of making of beds in all the ward areas), ISS carries out the specialised services for the theatre, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) and Methicillin / Multi Resistant Staphylococcus Aurea (MRSA) cleaning schedules.

We continue to work with our major contracting services to create innovative ways to improve the quality of services to the hospital.