An interview with Lorenz Steiner, Head of Hotels, about his experiences with Soobr.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and the Nidwalden Retirement and Nursing Home Foundation?
The Nidwalden Retirement and Nursing Home Foundation, or "Nägeligasse" for short, is located in the center of Stans. Nägeligasse functions - embedded in a changing environment - as an interesting interplay of supporting services, different areas, diverse processes and, above all, individual people. There are 123 care places available for care and support. Around 200 employees put their hearts and skills into caring for residents and their environment every day. About me: I have been Head of Hospitality at Nägeligasse since December 2022 and am responsible for a diverse area consisting of housekeeping, kitchen, catering and technical services, and therefore for around 50 employees.
Why are you working on the digitalization of cleaning processes at the Nidwalden Retirement and Nursing Home Foundation?
We see digitalization as a useful tool to support our processes and the people who work in them. When introducing digitized processes, we attach great importance to simple and understandable operation for the user. The benefits should accrue both to the user and ultimately to the residents.
What are the special requirements in the healthcare sector? Which workflows and processes did you want to optimize?
When analyzing the previous processes and procedures, we noticed that, on the one hand, there was a high and regular workload for resource planning and, on the other hand, points of friction arose when unforeseeable events such as staff absences or exit cleaning occurred. The resulting need for coordination was very resource-intensive. The cleaning schedule had to be adjusted at short notice and staff had to be rescheduled and informed.
Another important point for us is quality assurance. The existing record lists, which show when a room was last deep-cleaned, were very static, only kept sporadically and stored decentrally. We saw a need for optimization in this area. Long-term care institutions are confronted with increasingly dynamic conditions. The length of stay is getting shorter and shorter. We want to respond to this development and the associated challenges in an agile manner and need appropriate structures, tools and processes to do so.
Why did you choose Soobr?
With Soobr, we are ideally equipped for the current and future challenges in the area of cleaning services. Adjustments to cleaning tasks and the addition of new activities and areas can be made quickly and easily via the web portal and are integrated for employees in their familiar environment.
The simple and easy-to-understand application for employees was an important criterion. The app can be displayed in over 25 languages. In addition, the company's own cleaning routes and designations can be mapped as part of the implementation. For employees, this means they are working in a new system with familiar structures.
Soobr provides clarity about when, what and how often cleaning should take place and shows transparently which activities have actually been carried out.
An interesting additional function is the ability to easily generate defect reports. As housekeeping staff are out and about in all buildings every day, their eyes are virtually everywhere. With a few simple clicks, employees can create a defect report. Technical service employees receive a message and/or a photo including details of the room and can integrate this into their workflow.
Soobr thinks ahead, prioritizes and reschedules if necessary. This relieves the burden on the people responsible and allows them to focus on more effective activities.
How is the acceptance of the cleaning staff?
One of the main challenges was having Soobr redefine the cleaning routes and processes, some of which had been internalized for years. In other words, getting involved in digital management.
As expected, implementation was easier with digitally savvy employees. There was a great dynamic: the more digital-savvy employees slipped into the role of instructors and were able to support the technically shy team members.
Soobr is a great added value when training new employees and leads to faster independence in the new working environment.
How do you assess the potential of digitalization in the healthcare sector?
I am convinced of digitalization and automation as a tool and look to the future with confidence and curiosity. I believe the potential is huge, provided it leads to an increase in efficiency and end users can focus competently on the essential areas of work.
Lorenz Steiner
Head of Hotels
Member of the Executive Board
Stiftung Alters- und Pflegeheim Nidwalden
www.naegeligasse.ch
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