ISS Mediclean was awarded the contract to provide catering services to Rotherham General Hospital in January 1999. A key ingredient of the contract was not only to raise the standard of catering at the hospital, but also to carry out a major refurbishment of the existing kitchen and dining room facilities.

The whole kitchen area was gutted, over a 12 week period, at a cost to ISS Mediclean of £1.5m. There is now a modern central area which produces 1,300 plated meals a day for patients in 30 wards.

According to the Catering Manager, Jenny Southall, who worked with the Trust for more than 20 years, 'staff morale and productivity have improved due to the ergonomic design of the kitchen'. Jenny also receives far more praise from patients because, thanks to the new equipment, they are now getting hot food that is well presented and of good quality.

As far as the staff and visitors dining area are concerned, the whole restaurant and seating area was gutted and refurbished within the 12 week programme. Today the Rooftop Restaurant, as it is now known, operates a full 'all day' service, 7 days a week, and a night service up to 2am. There is seating for 300.

An average 4,250 staff and visitors are served each week.