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.
Why Veterinary Clinics Need Professional Cleaning
Veterinary clinics in Ireland operate under strict biosecurity and infection control requirements set by the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI). Every veterinary practice must maintain hygiene standards that prevent the transmission of infectious diseases between animal patients, protect staff from zoonotic diseases, and provide a clean, safe environment for pet owners. The consequences of inadequate cleaning in a veterinary setting are severe — disease outbreaks such as parvovirus, kennel cough, or ringworm can spread rapidly through a poorly cleaned clinic, causing animal suffering, reputational damage, and potential regulatory action.
Unlike standard commercial cleaning, veterinary clinic cleaning requires specialist knowledge of animal-safe chemicals, biosecurity protocols, clinical waste handling, and the specific infection risks associated with different animal species. Standard cleaning products can be harmful or even fatal to animals — phenol-based disinfectants, for example, are toxic to cats. The wrong cleaning agent used in a kennel or recovery area could poison an animal patient.
Optus Glean provides dedicated veterinary clinic cleaning teams trained in biosecurity, infection control, and animal-safe cleaning practices. We use only veterinary-grade disinfectants approved for use around animals, and our protocols are aligned with Veterinary Council of Ireland guidelines.
Surgery and Operating Theatre Cleaning
The veterinary operating theatre is the highest-risk area for infection and requires the most rigorous cleaning standards. While the terminal clean between procedures is performed by clinical staff, Optus Glean provides the deep environmental cleaning that maintains the surgical suite to the standard required for safe surgical practice.
Our surgery cleaning protocol covers every surface in the operating theatre.
- Ceiling-to-floor decontamination using veterinary-grade disinfectant (F10SC or equivalent)
- Operating table and surgical light cleaning and disinfection
- Anaesthetic machine exteriors, monitoring equipment, and trolley surfaces
- Surgical instrument storage area cleaning (instruments handled only by clinical staff)
- Ventilation grille and air duct cleaning to prevent airborne contamination
- Floor deep cleaning using scrubber-dryer with hospital-grade disinfectant
- Wall and ceiling spot cleaning, including light fittings and ceiling tiles
- Scrub-up area: sinks, taps, dispensers, and splash-back tiles
Surgery deep cleans are scheduled monthly for standard practices and fortnightly for high-volume surgical clinics. All cleaning is documented with date, scope of work, and chemicals used, forming part of the clinic's infection control records.
Kennel and Cattery Cleaning
Kennel and cattery areas present unique cleaning challenges. Animals in kennels may be recovering from surgery, receiving treatment for infectious diseases, or boarding overnight for observation. Cross-contamination between animals must be prevented through rigorous cleaning protocols and the use of separate equipment for different species.
Optus Glean's kennel cleaning protocol ensures that every kennel is decontaminated between occupants.
- Animal removal — The kennel is emptied by clinical staff before cleaning begins.
- Gross debris removal — Bedding, food bowls, and waste are removed. Bedding is sent for commercial laundering at 70°C minimum.
- Pre-rinse — All surfaces are rinsed with warm water to remove organic matter.
- Disinfection — All surfaces — floor, walls, door, bars, ceiling — are treated with veterinary-grade disinfectant at the correct dilution and contact time.
- Rinse and dry — Surfaces are rinsed and allowed to air-dry or dried with clean cloths.
- Equipment replacement — Clean bedding, sanitised food and water bowls are placed in the kennel.
Separate colour-coded cleaning equipment is used for the kennel area and the cattery to prevent cross-species contamination. This is critical because certain pathogens are species-specific — canine parvovirus, for example, does not affect cats, but feline calicivirus does not affect dogs. Keeping equipment separate eliminates the risk of cross-contamination.
Waiting Area and Reception Cleaning
The waiting area of a veterinary clinic serves a diverse clientele — anxious pet owners, animals of different species, and occasionally distressed or frightened animals. This environment must be kept clean, odour-free, and hygienic to reassure clients and prevent disease transmission between animals in the waiting room.
Our waiting area cleaning includes floor cleaning and sanitisation (including urine and faeces accidents), seating cleaning and sanitisation, reception desk and counter cleaning, washroom cleaning and consumable replenishment, entrance matting and door cleaning, display and brochure tidying, and odour management using enzymatic neutralisers rather than masking fragrances. We schedule waiting area cleaning for after close of business each day, with a weekly deep clean including carpet extraction or hard floor scrubbing.
Veterinary Clinic Cleaning Pricing
Veterinary clinic cleaning pricing depends on the size of the practice, the number of surgeries and kennels, and the cleaning frequency. Below are indicative 2026 pricing ranges for Ireland.
| Service | Price Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small single-vet practice | €550 – €800/month | 5 nights/week, surgery + waiting area |
| Mid-sized multi-vet clinic | €800 – €1,100/month | Surgery + kennels + imaging + waiting area |
| Large animal hospital / equine centre | €1,100 – €1,400+/month | Multiple theatres, extensive kennels |
| Surgery deep clean (monthly) | €300 – €700 | Ceiling-to-floor decontamination |
| Kennel deep clean (weekly) | €150 – €400 | Full decontamination, all units |
Note: Prices exclusive of VAT. All pricing includes animal-safe chemicals, biosecurity-trained staff, and infection control documentation. Bundling with kennel bedding laundry saves 10–15%.
Biohazard Waste Management
Veterinary clinics generate clinical waste including blood, tissue, contaminated dressings, sharps, and pharmaceutical waste. While the disposal of clinical waste is managed through the clinic's licensed waste contractor, Optus Glean ensures that clinical waste containers are correctly positioned, clearly labelled, not overfilled, and that any spillage of biological material is cleaned and decontaminated immediately. Our operatives are trained in clinical waste identification and segregation — they know the difference between general waste, clinical waste, pharmaceutical waste, and sharps, and they never handle sharps containers. Any biological spillage is treated with veterinary-grade biocidal agents and documented in the clinic's incident log.
Infection Control and Biosecurity Protocols
Biosecurity is the systematic approach to preventing the introduction and spread of infectious agents in a veterinary environment. For Optus Glean, this means every aspect of our cleaning service is designed to break the chain of infection.
- Colour-coded equipment: separate sets for surgery, kennels, cattery, and public areas
- One-way workflow: cleaning moves from cleanest areas (surgery) to most contaminated areas (kennels) — never the reverse
- Animal-safe disinfectants: veterinary-grade products effective against parvovirus, ringworm, kennel cough, and calicivirus
- Contact time compliance: disinfectants are left for the manufacturer's specified contact time before rinsing
- PPE: operatives wear gloves, aprons, and overshoes in clinical areas
- Hand hygiene: alcohol gel between areas, hand washing before leaving the premises
- Documentation: all cleaning activities logged for VCI inspection
Serving Veterinary Practices Across Ireland
Optus Glean provides veterinary clinic cleaning services in every county in Ireland. We work with small animal practices, mixed practices, equine clinics, referral hospitals, and emergency veterinary centres. Whether you are a single-vet practice in a rural town or a multi-vet referral hospital in Dublin, Cork, or Galway, we have the biosecurity-trained teams, the animal-safe products, and the infection control systems to keep your clinic safe, clean, and inspection-ready.
Frequently asked questions
How much does allied-health clinic cleaning cost in Ireland in 2026?
A single-site allied-health clinic is priced as a fixed monthly fee tied to a defined scope — treatment rooms, reception, washrooms, staff areas — and held under a multi-year contract with an annual indexed review. The Contract Cleaning ERO 2026 sets a €14.80/hour labour floor across the sector, but a reputable provider quotes the contract, not the hour, and bills via a single monthly Direct Debit.
What standards apply to allied-health cleaning in Ireland?
The HSE primary-care cleaning guidance is the operating reference, alongside CORU's Standards of Proficiency for the relevant profession (physiotherapy, podiatry, optometry and so on). HPRA-regulated products and devices on the premises shape what surfaces require validated disinfection. The cleaning programme should produce a documented audit trail the practitioner can hand to a regulator on request.
Why do small allied-health practices struggle with cleaning consistency?
Most Irish cleaning provision is delivered by part-time, casual, or self-employed operatives who rotate between sites and often between sectors (cleaning and care work). A 6-room physio clinic is a small account that gets deprioritised when an agency loses staff. The practice ends up with a different cleaner most weeks and no real continuity on the IPC standard expected in a treatment-room environment.
What is treatment-room standard cleaning?
Treatment-room standard cleaning means surfaces that touch the patient — couches, plinths, pillow covers, equipment handles, hand-contact points — are cleaned to a documented IPC-aware standard between sessions or end-of-day per the practice's clinical protocol, then deep-cleaned by the contracted provider on the agreed programme. The cleaning provider is responsible for environmental cleaning, not for equipment-level decontamination.
What's the difference between PAYE and casual cleaning contracts in allied health?
A PAYE-employed cleaner is on the cleaning company's payroll, paid above the Contract Cleaning ERO €14.80/hour floor, Garda-vetted, and contracted to your site as the named primary cleaner with a named relief. A casual or self-employed operative is none of those things. For a small clinic, the PAYE model is the only one that produces a recognisable face and a stable IPC standard week after week.
How do I evaluate a cleaning provider for an allied-health clinic?
Three checks. One: are the cleaners PAYE-employed by the company that signs the contract? Two: who is the named primary cleaner and named relief — are you a real account or a dispatch slot? Three: can the provider show a method statement and SDS file that fits a treatment-room environment, not a generic office template?
What should be in a cleaning contract for an allied-health clinic?
A scope per room, frequencies appropriate to a CORU-regulated treatment environment, an explicit IPC awareness baseline tied to HSE primary-care cleaning guidance, the chemical regime with SDS, named primary cleaner and named relief, Garda vetting confirmation, fixed monthly fee, annual indexed review, and a clean exit clause. No per-hour pricing.
How often should an allied-health clinic be professionally cleaned?
Most CORU-regulated single-site clinics run a daily contracted clean of treatment rooms, washrooms, and reception, plus a programmed deep clean (quarterly or six-monthly) of floors, soft furnishings, and high-level surfaces. Frequency should be set against patient throughput, not against a generic template. In Ireland, evening cleans after the last appointment are the typical pattern.
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
