Working together, caring together

From solar panels on roofs to cleaner waste water and from preventing food waste to providing sustainable clothing for the entire staff. Radboudumc medical centre leads the way for other hospitals in the Netherlands. Alex van der Putten from Radboudumc and Andrea Meuwissen from Nedlin talk about their partnership and the need for sustainability.

‘Radboudumc leads the way in green measures’ was the headline in Dutch daily newspaper Trouw on 20 February 2017. The article explains in-depth all the sustainable choices the hospital in Nijmegen has made. ‘But ten years ago, we had a very different situation,’ explains Van der Putten, supply chain management manager at Radboudumc. ‘In the last few decades we have taken significant steps in terms of sustainability and innovation. Our commitment to this has set us apart and I now often receive questions and requests from other hospitals.’

Complex logistics

Van der Putten is kept busy every day with finding solutions to complex logistics and facility-related questions. Together with a team of 125 people, he is responsible for a wide variety of processes ranging from OR logistics and patient transportation to machine-cleaning 50,000 beds every year which is done in two large machines that look like massive dishwashers.

Van der Putten is also responsible for all matters relating to linen and the clothing of the 5,500 employees at the hospital. For this duty he has been working closely with Andrea Meuwissen from Nedlin for the past three years. ‘Compared to our other clients in the healthcare sector, the large surface area of the premises presents the real challenge,’ states Meuwissen.

Distance

According to Van der Putten, ‘with a 400,000 m2 premises and 60 different buildings, the distances here are quite big. All our logistics run through underground connections and the longest passage is 1.4 km in length. We are currently working on making this more compact in the future, with the goal being more sustainable logistics.’ Meuwissen explains that for this client it is extremely important that the Nedlin lorries are loaded in the right manner. ‘Every day we arrive with one lorry full of clothing and one lorry with folded linen. If the linen is delivered to the wrong location, this can have significant consequences due to the large distances here. That's why it's important that we perfectly align ourselves to their internal logistics.

Sharing knowledge

‘Didn't you introduce a new system here for the transportation of beds?’ asks Meuwissen, ‘That's right,’ replies Van der Putten, ‘I was looking for a way to automate the transportation of beds but the vehicles that are specially designed for this function are incredible expensive. At my previous job in the food retail sector, we worked with order collection lorries. I had these vehicles fitted with rubbers, which makes them perfect for use in the hospital at just a fraction of the cost.’

For Van der Putten, openness and sharing knowledge are the highlights of his profession. ‘In the food retail sector this worked very differently. In healthcare knowledge is exchanged more readily and I have contact with colleagues at other hospitals every week. It is through working together with partners like Nedlin that we can achieve the best possible results. We are the experts in the needs, they are the experts in providing the solution.’

Teething troubles

Meuwissen knows that this process doesn't always run smoothly. ‘We were able to make significant headway when we started here. Radboudumc was then still working with a sheet and a bedspread on the beds. Our solution, the Medideck, provided considerable advantages for making the beds and the comfort of the patients. When it came to the automatic clothing dispensers (also called kuas, an acronym for the Dutch word kleding-uitgifte-automaten) however, it took some time to find the right working method.’ ‘It did indeed!’ laughs Van der Putten. ‘We already had automatic clothing dispensers when Nedlin started their service delivery here. In the beginning the dispensers weren't working properly and we couldn't understand why. Then we discovered that the method of delivery has a direct impact on the reading reliability of the scanners.’ ‘That was a learning moment for us,’ agrees Meuwissen. ‘But this is something that we will now always include in our logistics checks.’ But Van der Putten can see the humour in the situation. ‘It's with partners with whom you can have a heated but meaningful discussion that you know you made the right choice.’

Sustainable solutions

Van der Putten explains that sustainability was an important aspect during the tendering process three years ago. ‘Nedlin was the only one that had ISO 14001 certification, the others were still busy with the certification process.’ ‘Nedlin is also the only laundry in the Netherlands to have ISO 50001 certification,’ says Meuwissen. ‘This standard places even higher demands on our own energy management. It is in this area that we really connect as partners.’

Van der Putten agrees that they would not have taken the step towards sustainable clothing for staff without the partnership with Nedlin. ‘At the start of June, all doctors and nursing and support staff will be given clothing made from the sustainable fabric Tencel. The production of this fabric requires 97% less water and 46% less energy than making cotton. Together with the clothing supplier from Nedlin we performed extensive testing processes to find which fabric was most suitable.’

Trust

According to Meuwissen, ‘one of the fabrics completely discoloured after being washed. This is why the testing phase is so important. Clothing should not only be produced sustainably, but it should also last. Otherwise you undermine the aspect of sustainability.’

‘Hygiene is our priority,’ explains Van der Putten. ‘We need to be able to trust our partners completely in this regard. When we were looking for a new linen supplier and laundry we visited the laundries who had submitted their tenders. But when we visited Nedlin, we knew that our choice was made.’