Covering an area of over 5,000 square miles and responding to approximately 3,000 ‘999’ calls each day, cleaning efficiency is a high priority for the West Midlands Ambulance Trust. As their main supplier of cleaning and janitorial products, Arrow was approached to investigate ways to streamline their cleaning processes.

Our WorkSmarter Programme

As part of our WorkSmarter Programme, we analysed every aspect of delivering patient care – covering everything from procurement of their cleaning, hygiene, and clinical products to daily cleaning and re-equipping the ambulances.

Our team immersed themselves in the Trust’s daily operations, shadowing ambulance station staff across various roles to understand their challenges firsthand and identify opportunities to improve cleaning procedures, products and systems.

The Results

Following our in-depth assessment, a detailed report was present to the Trust outlining critical findings and our improvement recommendations – with significant results:

• Improved glove dispending – We introduced a quicker, and more hygienic method for dispensing nitrile gloves, saving paramedics valuable time.
• Enhanced mopping solutions – We sourced a highly-absorbent lint-free mop for cleaning ambulance floors and ramps.
• Reduced deep cleaning time – Our recommendations enabled a 20-30% reduction in task time for weekly deep clean.
• Effective equipment maintenance – We developed a method to quickly clean AED bags (crucial to maintaining hygiene standards during operations).

Our tailored solutions not only reduced waste and costs but also ensured a higher standard of hygiene, enabling the Trust to focus on delivering exceptional patient care.

“I see Arrow as an expert distributor, not just a supplier. I was attracted to Arrow from the start as they don’t have to go outside the organisation to get things done. As an independent family business, we find Arrow a more personal, cohesive unit. They are faster, more nimble and quicker off the mark to do things compared to larger organisations.”