Musgrove Park Hospital

Musgrove Park Hospital and MIW

At the start of this year, the Sustainability and Environment Advisor of Musgrove Park Hospital (Taunton and Somerset Trust) addressed a meeting of the hospital’s Unite Union members. The discussion centred around the importance of environmental and sustainability practises in the workplace. This resulted in a programme to reduce waste and promote sustainable behaviour around the hospital, as part of the NHS’s aim to reduce its carbon footprint to net zero. An integral part of this project would be the installation of three water bottle refill stations in Musgrove Park Hospital, sponsored by the Taunton branch of Unite. MIW Water Cooler Experts was commissioned to implement the project.

The Brief

For this project, MIW would be required to work with both a sponsor and a site Project Management Team, delivering in the following areas.

• The initial phase of this project was to advise hospital and union Project Managers on logistics and installation as well as the type of equipment best suited to the hospital environment.

• MIW would need to work with the NHS Trust’s Technical Division to ensure that the water dispensers met with all UK Government and water authority health and safety guidelines.

• The refill points would also need to be hygienic, easy to use, easy to maintain and vandal resistant. They should be wheelchair accessible. And they should be as environmentally friendly as possible.

• Once the appropriate equipment had been identified, MIW would need to customise the units with Unite’s bespoke livery and messaging prior to installation.

• MIW would then be responsible for scheduling an installation timetable convenient to all parties while causing minimum patient and staff disruption.

• Post-installation, MIW would be required to provide a full range of aftersales, including equipment servicing and sanitisation.

The Process

As with many of MIW’s projects, this job began with a site inspection. Three potential locations – by the entrance to Duchess Building, in the main concourse in the Jubilee building, and at the back of the Emergency Department – had been identified by the hospital. The MIW team needed to ascertain the viability of these sites and assess the need for any potential groundworks prior to installation.

Once the sites had been verified, MIW worked to identify the best equipment for the hospital. The hygiene rating of the Eco-Dispenser Max UV Superchill made it the most suitable for this project. With inbuilt UV sterilisation, capable of eliminating 99.99% of all waterborne bacteria and viruses, the Eco-Dispenser Max UV is one of the most technically advanced bottle refill stations on the market. It is WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) approved, guaranteeing compliance with all water authority and UK Government health and safety guidelines. And it is also GreenSpec™ listed for its high performance, low energy consumption and low water waste, which makes it perfect for the hospital’s sustainability drive. Made from stainless steel, with a security screwed cabinet, the Eco-Dispenser range is vandal resistant. And its sensor operation makes it extremely easy to use for everyone, including wheelchair users.

The final advantage of the Eco-Dispenser Max UV Superchill is that it can be easily customised with client branding. Once the unit had been agreed upon, the MIW team worked closely with Unite to ensure that the three bottle fillers were finished according to the union’s specification prior to installation.

Throughout this project, the MIW team needed to liaise with both the Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust Project Management Team and the Taunton Unite branch, as well as staff working on the ground in Musgrove Park Hospital. Keeping all parties informed and ensuring that the needs of all three were met was the biggest challenge of the project. Constant communication ensured that all parties were satisfied with the end result.

The Completed Project

MIW Water Cooler Experts completed the installation of three water bottle refill stations at Musgrove Park Hospital in 2020. The installations took place to a pre-agreed timetable, and within the allocated budget.

MIW will continue to carry out a regular service, maintenance and sanitisation routine for the three Musgrove Park Hospital bottle fillers.