Optimising Facilities Management for Cutting-Edge Research: OCS at the Quadram Institute

The Quadram Institute is a UK national science capability strategically funded by the UKRI- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and is home to an NHS medical facility in the East of England that houses Europe’s largest endoscopy unit, delivering exceptional healthcare and clinical research services to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Quadram Institute research focus is on the gut microbiome, food, nutrition, and human health.

Challenge

Before Quadram engaged OCS as their Total Facilities Management (TFM) provider, they relied on two separate service providers for their hard and soft services. The previous providers left behind a sense of distrust and a fractured customer relationship due to subpar service delivery, which failed to meet the stringent standards required for a medical facility handling active biological matter.

The research facility’s containment level two and three laboratories house a variety of foodborne microbes, including active pathogens, which are essential for the world-leading research into food safety conducted on-site, making it a high-risk environment. Therefore, it is imperative that the cleaning and maintenance standards across the facility are not only of the highest quality but also meticulously thorough in both their processes and auditing. This ensures the optimal outcomes necessary for a high-stakes laboratory setting.

Solution

To provide a single point of contact for both hard and soft services at the Quadram facility, the team engaged OCS for a streamlined solution. The Quadram facility is complex, being a multi-tenanted building shared by  Quadram Institute Bioscience, the NHS, and the University of East Anglia (UEA), thus serving three distinct customers.

In addition to our work at Quadram, we have a strong presence in the local area, providing TFM services to UEA’s other campuses. Sixty of our colleagues are on the ground to support the Quadram Institute, if necessary, with emergency or specialised services, reflecting the symbiotic relationship between the two institutions. This support complements the efforts of the forty colleagues who work on-site at the Quadram Institute.

OCS collaborated with these three entities to establish standards for each facility’s cleaning and servicing requirements. Additionally, our teams underwent necessary training and certification to manage specific areas and labs within the facility. For instance, some team members received counterterrorism clearance to access the containment level 3 (CL3) labs, which house high-grade pathogens.

We also implemented our standardised service delivery model for the healthcare industry. Leveraging our extensive experience with medical facilities nationwide, we revamped and enhanced service delivery, restoring customer relationships that had been strained by previous service providers.

Outcome

For the Endoscopy unit, a significant part of the building with the highest standards, where any KPIs below 97% are considered a failure, we consistently achieved 100% on KPIs for five consecutive months, with five audits conducted each month.  Due to the customer’s renewed confidence in the state and quality of facility maintenance, the number of audits for both the Quadram Institute and UEA parts of the building were reduced from weekly to monthly whilst still maintaining the mandated weekly audits for the NHS, per national standards. The success and turnaround in customer relationships and the improved standard of service demonstrate our commitment to excellence and delivering the best outcomes for our customers.