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Within our roles at the CAP Programme, we are honoured to meet the fantastic and enthusiastic housekeeping and catering teams.The power of the togetherness and drive of these groups is spellbinding to see in action as they deliver their services.

Coupled in unison with the other departments on the premises, it is special – a very, very strong sense of together and belonging.Experiencing this recently at hospitals in Birmingham, Norwich and Reading plus schools in Gorleston and Wellingborough reminds you of the power of ‘team’.

So many quotes on the value of ‘team’ to dwell upon – Just ponder on the words and think of your ‘team’

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." – Henry Ford

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson.

My favourite at even better than the ‘three musketeers’ - "No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. " ~ H.E. Luccock

As noted during a recent assessment visit, the above quote was posted in the Housekeeping team’s room. On asking the team about the quote, each and every one reeled off a series of examples on using the quote as part of their mind-set to navigate past the daily obstacles. In some cases, this was smarter use plus trial of new equipment, others at the use of humour to defuse a situation and also to ‘open and informative’ communications with the different users of the premises to create a better understanding of everyone’s contribution to ‘Total Housekeeping.’

The ‘team’ voice was very much at thinking how could they work smarter in their physically and mentally demanding role whilst growing the team and being better.

This last point is impressive at the attitude at being better. What were they doing – SIMPLE in so many ways – Each and every one lists any obstacle encountered as part of their overall day. Examples were at poor lighting on arrival at work in the early hours, litter spotted internally and externally, poor access for cleaning, repetitive ‘manual’ tasks that could be mechanised and in effective communications.

Not every solution that they landed on worked such as the trial of the robot window cleaner. As a ‘team,’ they have shown and believe that they have grown and are better. A fantastic testament to their attitude.

What about others? What obstacles have you encountered and successfully over-come? Drop us a line to share.

Fantastic to see and hear of the teams working together to deliver their ultimate performances.

What do the Beacon Hospital and St Luke’s Care Home attribute their success to - their team spirit, enjoyment and unity plus a robust support infrastructure working for the common goal – Their Platinum Award

"Many congratulations to all involved.”

Looking back at 2023 and we suspect forwards into 2024 and beyond, the most frequently asked question of us is about the highlights. There are of course many such as how the teams celebrate their various achievements, seeing the housekeeping and catering teams being embraced by their whole work community and growth of the individual and team ‘swagger’.All are fantastic to hear about and experience in their own rights.

However, we do all agree that it is quite similarly seeing the progression of the service.As the saying goes, ‘everyone is a winner’ from recognition for those housekeeping and catering teams delivering the service, their work place colleagues for their contributions to the delivery of the full service expectations and reinforcement of the premise’s reputation for quality.

As we move into 2024, we all will continue to seek out progression i.e. the act of progressing; forward or onward movement: a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.

Remember it also keeps the CAP team smiling – Looking forward to a great 2024 with all of the members – you are brilliant with your ambition, competitiveness and determination to do the very best for all.

We value the feedback from our members.It provides a focus for us at the CAP Award Programme in ensuring we provide the best and most appropriate support to those engaged with us.

It also gets us an insight into one of the most important aspects – recognising and celebrating with the Housekeeping team.

Spire Hull & East Riding Hospital wrote to ‘Tuesday 21st November, we have a housekeeping meeting/ GOLD CAP Award Celebration’ and they did!!

We are delighted to welcome not one, not two but three new members to the CAP Award Programme for Housekeeping and Catering.

As each and every CAP member pursues their ambition to deliver exceptional service to their clients, it is always exciting to welcome new members with the same desire, drive and commitment for the progression of their housekeeping and catering services.

Congratulations to Trinity Care, Silver Steam Healthcare and UPMC on becoming the latest members of an exception group.

The CAP Awards Platinum is the highest level of accreditation that builds on the criteria for the CAP Gold standing. To qualify for CAP Platinum eligibility, an organisation must have achieved three successive CAP Gold Awards in the assessed discipline: housekeeping or catering in three successive years

Triple CAP Golds are still very rare. Make no mistake, our Gold awards are not handed out glibly. Neither are the Silver or Bronze awards for that matter. Triple Golds point to the continued success of an organisation that pursues the Continuous Advancement Programme. The Platinum level gives those high performers something new to aspire to.

A Platinum assessment is a rigorous process. Some would say ruthless. Before we look at that in detail, we want to point out that the CAP programme is not really about a podium position with a bronze, silver or gold award – even though those certificates are coveted by the housekeeping or catering staff. No, CAP is a longer game. Continual advancement cannot happen in one year. It takes successive assessments to measure and conclude that advancement has been achieved. And that’s where the Platinum comes in for teams who consistently advance and achieve CAP Gold.

When an organisation achieves its third CAP Gold in successive years, it will qualify for a Platinum assessment the next year. Teams and managers need to be careful what they wish for. CAP Platinum is a whole new level. Having landed three years of CAP Golds, they will be familiar with much of the CAP assessment process. However, the criteria are far more stringent.

Like the Gold, our assessment visit will be unannounced. Unlike the 90-day window of the Gold assessment, the Platinum visit can occur at any time in the 12-month period, without notice, and without the courtesy we extend to CAP Gold participants who can instruct us if key team members are away or off-site. We don’t take that into consideration for Platinum. The housekeeping or catering team, irrespective of holidays or other reasons for staff shortage, needs to be capable of performing to the highest standards at all times. No excuses!

In addition, the overall score from our inspection needs to be above 95%, with scores for each individual category of at least 76%.

For Housekeeping, the qualitative, hands-on inspection part of the assessment must return a score of 90%, again with no specific area registering lower than 76%.

In Catering, the qualitative part of the process relates to the ‘customer’meal experience such that at two of the three servings (breakfast, lunch and supper) must be sampled with every element delivering a score above 68%. The aim is simply to demonstrate the consistency of the service quality to the diner across a longer time period.

Should an organisation fall short in any area of the assessment, they will not achieve the CAP Platinum but would still be able to secure a further CAP Gold award.

Some schools and healthcare organisations have been CAP Awards participants for many years, and virtually all demonstrate advancement year on year thanks to our 12-month action plans. On that basis, while triple Golds are rare, we don’t expect them to remain so. We look forward to assessing at CAP Platinum level more frequently.

ENDS

Well done to Julie and the Team.

Great team effort to keep the standards going through the refurbishment