The Optus Glean promise: predictability
Three pillars. Three commitments. No exceptions.
Predictable cost. One fixed monthly fee, set against a defined scope and an annual indexed review. No variable hours. No surprise invoices. No padded callout charges. Budgeted once, paid by Direct Debit, reviewed once a year.
Predictable presence. The site is cleaned every day it is meant to be cleaned. A named primary cleaner is rostered to your contract, supported by a named relief who is already vetted, inducted, and trained on the same colour-coded system and IPC standard. The schedule does not depend on whether one person is available on one day.
Predictable freedom. A single point of accountability. One contract. One named manager. One number to call. Cleaning is no longer a problem the Practice has to manage — it is a service that runs.
Why cleaning in Ireland is structurally hard to get right
Most cleaning provision in Ireland — including in healthcare-adjacent settings — is delivered by a workforce that is structurally part-time and casual. A significant proportion of operatives across the sector also work as healthcare assistants in nursing homes, residential care, and acute hospitals. Cleaning shifts are typically taken when healthcare shifts are not available, and released when they are. This pattern is consistent with CSO labour data on accommodation, food, and administrative-support employment, and it is the underlying reason that buyers across Ireland encounter inconsistency from agencies they have contracted in good faith.
The pattern is reinforced by two background pressures specific to Ireland. Housing affordability limits the catchment for any role paying at or near the minimum wage. The Contract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order rate of €14.80 per hour for 2026, set under the Labour Court's sectoral employment framework, sits close enough to flexible care-sector pay that operatives drift toward whichever shift pays slightly more on the day. Both pressures pull cleaning staff away from contracted shifts and toward casual healthcare work.
The result, from the buyer's perspective, is the experience most practice managers, facilities leads, and procurement officers in Ireland describe: a clean that is half-completed when the contracted cleaner is available, missed entirely when they are not, and accompanied by recurring conversations with the agency about cover that may or may not arrive.
This is the structural problem Optus Glean is built to solve. Our operatives are fully PAYE-employed with guaranteed weekly hours, paid leave, and pension contributions under Irish auto-enrolment. They are paid above the ERO floor deliberately — because the structural reliability of the service depends on the cleaner choosing to remain in the role rather than rotating through casual healthcare shifts. A named primary cleaner is assigned to your site, supported by a named relief, both Garda-vetted and trained to Optus Glean's documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard.
Cleaning Standards for Primary Care in Ireland
GP surgeries and medical centres are the front door of the Irish healthcare system. Over 90% of patient interactions with the health service happen in primary care. That means your waiting room, consulting rooms, and treatment rooms see hundreds of patients every week, many of them unwell, immunocompromised, or elderly. The infection prevention and control (IPC) standards in these environments must reflect the clinical risk.
The HSE National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections apply to all healthcare settings including GP surgeries. HIQA can inspect primary care premises under its regulatory remit. In practice, this means every GP surgery needs a documented cleaning programme, trained cleaning staff, appropriate disinfectants, and auditable records. A generic office cleaning service does not meet these requirements.
Optus Glean provides healthcare-grade cleaning for GP surgeries, group practices, medical centres, and primary care centres. Our operatives are IPC-trained for clinical environments and understand the specific demands of primary care settings.
Treatment Room Cleaning
The treatment room (or practice nurse room) is where minor procedures, vaccinations, wound care, blood draws, and clinical assessments take place. It is a clinical environment that requires the highest standard of cleaning.
- Examination couch: all surfaces cleaned and disinfected, paper roll replaced
- Instrument trolley: surfaces sanitised with hospital-grade disinfectant
- Work surfaces and preparation areas: cleared and disinfected
- Sink and hand wash station: basin, taps, soap dispenser, and paper towel holder cleaned
- Medical fridge exterior: handle and door surface cleaned
- Sharps containers: checked (not emptied — clinical waste function)
- Clinical waste bins: liners replaced, bins cleaned
- Floor: mopped with hospital-grade disinfectant, clean to dirty direction
- High-touch points: door handles, light switches, couch controls, dispensers
Single-use cloths are used in treatment rooms and disposed of as clinical waste. All products are hospital-grade disinfectants with proven efficacy against MRSA, C. difficile, norovirus, and influenza.
Consulting Room Cleaning
GP consulting rooms combine a desk-based workspace with a clinical examination area. The cleaning approach must address both zones. Our consulting room clean covers the desk, chair, computer, printer, and telephone (wiped and sanitised), the examination couch and curtain area, flooring, and all high-touch surfaces. Where GPs have personal items on display (books, photographs, certificates), we clean around them without displacement.
Waiting Room and Reception
GP waiting rooms present a particular IPC challenge. Patients with infectious conditions (coughs, colds, flu, gastroenteritis, skin infections) sit alongside patients who may be immunocompromised (cancer patients, elderly, pregnant women). High-touch surfaces in waiting rooms — chairs, door handles, check-in screens, pens, and water cooler buttons — are potential transmission vectors.
- All seating: surfaces wiped and sanitised
- Self-check-in screen and touch surfaces: disinfected
- Reception desk and counter: wiped and sanitised
- Notice boards, leaflet holders, and displays: tidied and dusted
- Children's play area (if present): toys sanitised, surfaces wiped
- Floor: vacuumed and mopped
- Washrooms: full deep clean with consumable replenishment
- Entrance: glass doors cleaned, mat vacuumed or replaced
Primary Care Centre Cleaning
Ireland now has over 140 HSE primary care centres, and more are planned. These multi-disciplinary facilities house GP practices alongside public health nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health services, and community welfare. Optus Glean provides a single cleaning contract for the entire primary care centre, ensuring consistent IPC standards across all disciplines and shared areas. This is more efficient and more accountable than individual tenants arranging separate cleaning.
GP Surgery Cleaning Pricing
| Service | Price Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Daily cleaning (single-GP practice) | €450 – €650/month | Consulting + treatment + waiting, 5 days |
| Daily cleaning (2-3 GP practice) | €650 – €950/month | Multiple rooms, practice nurse room |
| Daily cleaning (primary care centre) | €950 – €1,500/month | Multi-discipline, shared facilities |
| Quarterly deep clean | €300 – €800 | Behind furniture, high-level, full audit |
| Enhanced flu season protocol | +15–25% | Increased frequency, virucidal products |
Note: Prices exclusive of VAT. Bundling with washroom services and laundry saves 10–15%.
IPC Documentation and Audit
Every GP surgery client receives a complete IPC cleaning documentation package. This includes room-by-room cleaning schedules, signed daily cleaning logs, chemical safety data sheets, operative IPC training certificates, and quarterly cleaning audit reports. For group practices and primary care centres, we provide a cleaning quality dashboard showing compliance rates by room and by week. This documentation integrates with your practice's IPC file and satisfies HSE and HIQA audit requirements.
Enhanced Seasonal Protocols
During flu season, RSV outbreaks, or pandemic situations, GP surgeries face a surge of patients with infectious conditions. Optus Glean provides an enhanced cleaning protocol that can be activated at short notice. This includes increased cleaning frequency in waiting areas and washrooms, virucidal disinfection of all patient-contact surfaces, dedicated cleaning of isolation or designated respiratory areas, and extended hours coverage during periods of high demand. The enhanced protocol runs until the practice confirms normal service has resumed.
Serving GP Surgeries Across Ireland
Ireland has approximately 2,500 GP practices and over 140 primary care centres. Optus Glean provides IPC-compliant cleaning to single-GP practices, group practices, healthcare campuses, and multi-discipline primary care centres. We serve rural single-doctor surgeries, suburban group practices, urban medical centres, and HSE primary care centres across all 26 counties.
Frequently asked questions
How much does healthcare cleaning cost in Ireland in 2026?
A GP practice or primary care centre is priced as a fixed monthly fee per site, set against a defined scope (rooms, frequency, IPC standard) and held under a multi-year contract with an annual indexed review. The Contract Cleaning ERO 2026 sets a €14.80/hour floor for the labour component, but reputable providers price the contract, not the hour. Expect a single line on the invoice and a monthly Direct Debit.
What standards apply to healthcare cleaning in Ireland?
HIQA's National Standards for Infection Prevention and Control, the HSE National Cleaning Standards Manual, the HPSC's hand-hygiene guidelines, and S.I. 7 of 2009 on healthcare-associated infection. The Patient Safety Act 2023 has further raised expectations on documented evidence. A compliant cleaning programme produces an audit trail that maps directly to these standards — colour-coded equipment, two-stage cleaning, and validated disinfection contact times.
Why is healthcare cleaning consistency such a problem in Ireland?
Most Irish cleaning provision is delivered by part-time, casual, or self-employed operatives who often also work as healthcare assistants and rotate between cleaning and care shifts. Housing affordability and wage compression in larger urban areas reinforce this pattern. The result is a different person in your practice most days, no continuity on the IPC standard, and a fragile audit trail at HIQA inspection.
What is HIQA-aligned IPC and why does it matter?
HIQA-aligned infection prevention and control means the daily cleaning programme is documented, executed, and evidenced against HIQA's IPC standards and the HSE National Cleaning Standards Manual. In practice that means colour-coded equipment, two-stage detergent-then-disinfectant cleaning of clinical surfaces, validated contact times per the Safety Data Sheet, signed daily checklists, and records that survive an unannounced inspection.
What's the difference between PAYE and casual cleaning contracts in healthcare?
A PAYE-employed cleaner is on payroll, paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO floor, holds a formal contract of employment, has Garda vetting on file, paid leave, and PRSI/pension contributions through the employer. A casual or self-employed operative is none of those things. PAYE staffing is the only model that supports a named primary cleaner and named relief — which is what continuity in a regulated environment actually requires.
How do I evaluate a cleaning provider for a healthcare setting?
Ask three questions. One: are the cleaners PAYE-employed by the company that signs the contract, or subcontracted? Two: who is the named primary cleaner for my site, and who is the named relief? Three: can the provider produce an IPC-aligned audit pack — colour-coded SOP, signed daily checklists, SDS file, Garda vetting register — that maps to HIQA standards on day one of the contract.
What should be in a cleaning contract for a GP practice?
A defined scope per room, frequencies tied to clinical risk, the IPC standard the contract is delivered against (HIQA / HSE National Cleaning Standards Manual), the named primary cleaner and relief, the auditing programme, the chemical regime (with SDS), Garda vetting confirmation, the fixed monthly fee, the annual indexed review mechanism, and a clean exit clause. No per-hour pricing. No ad-hoc top-up charges.
Who handles clinical waste at a GP practice?
Clinical waste, sharps, and pharmaceutical waste are handled by a licensed healthcare-waste contractor under the Waste Management Acts 1996-2023, not by the cleaning provider. The cleaning team's role is environmental cleaning of waste-holding areas, sharps awareness, and immediate reporting of any found sharps to clinical staff. In Ireland, this typically means a separate orange-bag and yellow-sharps collection from a HSE-approved contractor running on a fixed schedule.
How Optus Glean handles staff shortages
Every Optus Glean contract is staffed on a redundancy model rather than a single-person model. A named primary cleaner is assigned to the site at contract start. A named relief is assigned alongside them. Both are PAYE-employed by Optus Glean, both are Garda-vetted, both are inducted on the site's specific layout, access protocols, and colour-coded equipment system, and both are trained to the same documented HIQA-aligned IPC standard. Substitution is built into the contract from the first day, not arranged on the day cover is needed.
Sick day cover. When the primary cleaner is unable to work, the named relief is deployed. The Practice site contact is notified by 06:30 on the morning of the absence by SMS or email, with the name of the relief who is attending. The relief follows the same task list, uses the same equipment, and finishes within the same window. The standard of clean is unchanged because the relief was prepared for this scenario before the absence happened.
Annual leave cover. Annual leave is rostered weeks in advance and the relief is scheduled to cover the full leave period. The Practice is informed at the start of the leave period — not on the morning leave begins. This is the same model used in clinical rota management: known absences are pre-staffed, not improvised.
Long-term cover. If the primary cleaner is absent for more than two weeks (extended illness, parental leave, bereavement leave), cover is drawn from the wider trained bench rather than relying on the single named relief. The Practice is kept informed of the cover plan, the named individuals involved, and the expected duration. Continuity of standard is maintained because every operative on the bench is trained to the same documented standard.
Permanent reassignment. If the primary cleaner moves to a new permanent role within Optus Glean — promotion, relocation, retirement — the relief is promoted to primary on a planned timetable, a new relief is trained on the site, and both are introduced to the Practice before the handover takes effect. There is no day on which the Practice discovers, after the fact, that their cleaner has changed.
Substitution is Optus Glean's operational problem, not the Practice's risk to absorb. The buyer pays a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope to be delivered, every day it is meant to be delivered. The mechanism by which we deliver it — primary, relief, bench, retraining — is our cost to manage and our risk to carry.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-06