Start date: 1999
Placemakers: 480
5 locations plus satellite sites
Services provided:
Catering services (end to end)
Cleaning services including: theatre cleaning, ward cleaning, public area cleaning, periodical cleaning, reactive cleaning
Mail handling
Patient services assistance
Patient transportation
Security services
Shuttle bus services
Waste management
Partnering for improved patient care
Sustained innovation has been intrinsic to our 25-year collaboration with Eastern Health, ensuring gold-standard patient support, safety and customer care. Most recently, ISS and Eastern Health successfully rolled out a new Regethermic food trolley initiative at Eastern Health’s Box Hill Hospital and soon-to-be Wantirna Health site. This initiative, supported by ISS UK’s proven experience with similar trolley technology, aligns with advancements seen in other major Melbourne hospitals.
Rethermalisation, or reheating, is particularly important in environments where batch meals are prepared in advance, such as hospitals. Proper reheating ensures safe, high-quality meals, reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses and maintaining patient satisfaction.
ISS, in partnership with Box Hill Hospital, has introduced 17 new trolleys, replacing a decommissioned set. A team of 72 ISS Placemakers now use the trolleys to service approximately 1200 meals a day across breakfast, lunch, dinner, as well as morning and afternoon tea.
Trolley upgrade – key benefits
The upgraded trolleys offer benefits for patient care including:
Sophisticated dual-purpose heating and refrigeration compartments to reheat food efficiently while maintaining cold items at safe temperatures.
Cloud-based monitoring, which provides remote alerts throughout the food-service delivery process, including temperature control and timing.
Ergonomically designed trolleys to enhance push-pull mobility and safety for staff self-delivering meals.
The new trolleys have been praised for their innovative design and ability to efficiently heat and transport food to patients in healthcare settings safety. They have also been shown to improve food safety by maintaining safe temperatures to the patient bedside. Kim Wheeler, Director, Support Services, Eastern Health
Agile services cater to the future
ISS and Eastern Health have prioritised future-proofing in selecting these trolleys. Designed to adapt to increasing patient numbers, the trolleys can hold a variety of meal tray types and sizes. Their advanced technology also facilitates remote, cloud-based monitoring of food temperature and timing to enhance food-service delivery.