HEALTH chiefs shared a cake to mark the start of a five-year agreement which will provide services like cleaning and portering to seven north east London hospitals.

Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone and King George Hospital, Ilford, are among the hospitals set to benefit. Staff employed by Initial Hospital Services (IHS) will also be working at 52 community health sites.

They are covering the area bounded by Leytonstone in the west, Brentwood in the east, and Loughton and Rainham in the north and south.

IHS has signed a contract for "hotel services" with the health chiefs in the Outer North East London Health Consortium, which includes Whipps Cross Trust, Redbridge Primary Care Trust, and the North East London Mental Health Trust.

The consortium's project director for shared services, Geoff Smith, said: "The breadth of the combined contracts was attractive to tendering companies. The outcome was that all of us agreed to contract with Initial Hospital Services, with mutual benefits being gained through economies of scale."

This move was described by IHS managing director Mike Jepson as a fresh approach and an innovative project.

He was speaking when the consortium members' representatives gathered at St George's Hospital in Hornchurch last week to verify the contracts and renew their commitment to the scheme.

Whipps Cross chief executive Peter Coles said: "The transfer of hotel services to our hospital commenced in November with the switchboard and portering staff moving from ISS Mediclean to IHS.

"The new uniforms provided for these staff and the additional radios complete with earphones for the porters, are part of the improved services that IHS will provide for the trust. Meanwhile, our stores and transport staff have transferred back to the trust."

Whipps Cross has taken on IHS to cover its 750-bed hospital as well as community sites in Chingford, Wanstead and Loughton. The combined value of all the contracts is worth £12.5mi to IHS.