FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Donna Brown Managing Director Healthcare and Yusuf Noor Head of Learning and Development Healthcare ISS UK & Ireland describe the achievements of the ISS Healthcare Training Academy
ISS is proud to have served our National Health Service for nearly four decades. In that time, we’ve gained an in-depth understanding of the evolving needs and challenges that NHS Trusts face. With patient numbers on the rise and shortages of clinical staff, we understand the urgent need to deliver smarter, efficient services that put people first.
Training and development are at the heart of our approach, which is why we launched the ISS Healthcare Training Academy at Chelsea & Westminster in 2019. The success of the Academy led to others opening around the country — most recently, at University Hospital Hairmyres in Scotland.
With Academy sites also at Lewisham & Greenwich and Luton & Dunstable hospitals and plans to unveil a new site at West Middlesex University Hospital later this year, we’re working hard to train and develop our staff across healthcare to the highest standard. As a dedicated on-site classroom facility, each academy serves to upskill and prepare our people for real-life situations that they may encounter as part of their roles, equipping them to adapt and thrive in challenging environments by providing them with hands-on training opportunities.
WAYS OF WORKING
But the academy is about more than just training — it’s a vision for our way of working, reinforcing ISS’ ambition to craft sustainable, people-centred workplaces. Even in areas where we don’t currently have an onsite, fully built academy facility, we run a hub and pop-up approach, so all our teams have access to the same blended learning experience. We’re driven by a belief that healthcare thrives on innovation and excellence, a belief that mirrors the NHS’ own commitment to exceptional care.
Our academies mimic real healthcare spaces, such as a fully equipped patient bedroom with hospital beds, complete with accompanying furniture. By creating these true-to-life environments, we’re providing tailored, relevant learning for our people, from cleaning to our rigorous Pure Space standards, to repairing nurse call systems, to servicing medical gas pendants.
Academy training goes beyond technical skills, incorporating compassionate communication and patient engagement to create supportive environments for patients and families.
MENTAL HEALH CARE
One of the central parts to our training is a focus on mental health care, reflecting ISS’ dedication to improving outcomes in mental health settings. Our people receive specialised training in mental health awareness, safety protocols, safeguarding, and in creating therapeutic spaces. They learn to respect privacy by knocking before entering rooms, maintain confidentiality during sensitive interactions, and foster positive experiences that elevate the service user journey. This is a critical part of our commitment to be the People Who Care.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE
The ISS Healthcare Training Academy is all about investing in people and their careers, building a workforce that’s highly skilled and committed to making a lasting difference, while easing the burden on NHS staff, allowing them to focus on clinical patient care. Our original objectives for the Academy were ambitious: to upskill 1,500 staff annually, and ensure training met both ISS and NHS standards. Today, we’re delighted to report that we’ve exceeded these targets, having already trained over 9,000 people since the launch of the first Academy in 2019, and exceeded expectations on staff retention, with staff turnover dropping by nearly 28 per cent across academy trusts.
Reflecting on this journey fills us with pride, but it’s the future that lights us up. Looking forward, we’re preparing our staff for a healthcare world that’s always evolving, crafting new training paths in leadership, digital skills, even AI-driven apprenticeships, while expanding the programme even further across healthcare.
Whether through a clean ward, a hot meal, or even just a friendly chat, our people are proud to play an important role in delivering outstanding patient experiences in a healthcare world that’s always evolving. With such an incredible team and an unshakable commitment to caring, we know the ISS Healthcare Training Academy will keep shaping our people across healthcare for the better. Because when people who care show up, they don’t just make a difference; they help to build a legacy.
