Drainage maintenance is “vital” to care delivery at NHS hospital

Facilities managers at one of the largest mental health hospitals in the North East of England says drainage maintenance carried out by Lanes Group plc is vital to support the delivery of the best care.

Lanes carries out planned and preventative maintenance (PPM) carried out on the drainage system at the 210-bed St George’s Park Hospital in Morpeth, Northumberland, on behalf of Robertson FM.

Robertson Contract Manager Ian McKenzie said the work, delivered by drainage engineers from the Lanes Newcastle depot, was essential to the smooth running of the hospital.

He added: “Our data clearly shows the drainage PPM work has a measurable positive impact in reducing the amount of reactive work our in-house teams have to do to tackle problems like drain blockages.

“If drains and sewers become seriously blocked, wastewater could back up into the hospital, adversely affecting patient care. The work done by Lanes is a vital element of our strategy to prevent that happening.”

The Lanes drainage teams use a jet vac tanker to carry out gully and drain cleaning across the whole site twice a year.

As with other healthcare sites, St George’s Park Hospital, operated by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, has a high risk of drains being blocked by items wrongly or accidently being flushed down toilets.

Ian McKenzie said: “Hospitals reflect society. As such we have patients, visitors, and staff who do not always follow the correct protocols for using toilets and sinks, which can result in a higher risk of blockages. This makes having a robust, proactive drainage maintenance programme all the more important.”

Trevor Sawyer, Area Development Manager for Lanes Newcastle, said: “We’re pleased to be able to support such an important public service, and can also respond to emergency call-outs as well.

“All our PPM clients have the added assurance that they can call on our advice and expertise at any time, and can access our full range of specialist services, from CCTV drainage surveys and sewer diagnostics, to drain rehabilitation and replacement. “