Healthcare
Whitepaper: The role of clinical nutrition in hospital care
Why day one matters: Mobilizing critical FM services in healthcare
Case Study: A transformative partnership with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
The Challenge
In December 2024, Sodexo formed a transformative partnership with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) to deliver soft facilities management services across 20 sites, including Colchester and Ipswich hospitals and 18 community facilities.
Following a Trust Board decision to move to a single external provider, Sodexo was appointed to deliver a consistent service covering patient dining, cleaning, portering, security and more.
The Solutions
Mobilization and stakeholder engagement began immediately, with phased roll-out across sites from April to July 2025. The transition was seamless, ensuring service continuity while welcoming over 1,000 colleagues, half of whom transferred from the NHS and half from the incumbent provider.
Robust governance was embedded from day one, with jointly developed mobilization tools, risk registers and readiness plans. Rigorous reporting ensured alignment was maintained.
Crucially, executive team support played a vital role through peer-to-peer leadership meetings, site visits and regular briefings that fostered momentum and trust. This deep engagement helped lay the foundations for long-term success.
Supporting people through change
In the UK, when a contract of this scale occurs, employees and their employment rights are transferred to the new operator under a law known as TUPE - Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). Transitioning over 1,000 colleagues under TUPE required broad stakeholder engagement managed with empathy and transparency.
We combined structured communication with personal engagement, bespoke welcome letters, over 70 group events, and dedicated one-to-one conversations to help ease concerns and build trust. Bespoke uniforms were created for the team and all communications utilized this to create a sense of identity and belonging.
Our co-created, values-led culture – bolstered by the invaluable support of our suppliers Apetito and Vileda in delivering targeted training – helped maintain morale and resilience through high-pressure deadlines, leading to smooth service go-lives across all sites.
The Results
I’m really pleased with the way it’s going. We’ve seen significant improvement, for example with Portering times, we’ve had good feedback from staff and patients about the catering offer that’s available, and we’ve had good audits around cleaning. But what I’ve really been impressed with is that word partnership. We’re working with you, you’re working with us all with that real focus around improving the lives of the people that we serve, improving the lives of our community, making our staff happier, and that is the key to really good partnership working
Delivering with care and precision
Health, safety and wellbeing were central throughout mobilization. From site audits to tailored training, such as disease-informed nutrition modules for catering staff, every detail was designed for quality and compliance. Menus were co-developed with clinical leads to meet DIGEST and Hospital Food Standards. Catering teams took part in food tastings to build their confidence and engage with patients, staff and visitors.
Our new Kitchen Works retail offer has launched at Colchester and Ipswich, bringing pre-ordering, click-and-collect, and street food pop-ups to enhance convenience and choice. Feedback was gathered directly from staff and patients via stands and surveys to inform the end solution.
Structured, transparent reporting kept stakeholders informed and enabled agile decision-making. Key updates on performance, risks and workforce integration ensured accountability and clarity throughout the process. Important messages were shared via Trust email, print, and digital platforms – reinforcing shared goals and raising awareness among the wider hospital community.
Innovation and social impact from day one
A digital platform with intuitive dashboards and analytics provides clinical and non-clinical teams with real-time insights into patient concerns and expectations about non-clinical services – captured from bedside conversations by newly recruited Patient Ambassadors.
A digital information guide has been launched for patients, empowering them with information on menus, who’s who in the team, hospital and ward routines, FAQs and ways to feedback.
We’re also proud to introduce Combat2Coffee – a social enterprise supporting veterans and ex-offenders through barista training at both hospitals.
A well-planned and well-delivered mobilization provides stability at a critical moment of change. It ensures continuity for patients, confidence for clinical colleagues and reassurance for employees transferring into new teams.
This case study was first published on the Sodexo UK & Ireland website: Why day one matters: Mobilising critical FM services in healthcare
