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 Healthcare Facilities Need Specialist Cleaning
Healthcare environments are fundamentally different from any other commercial setting. The people inside them are vulnerable. Patients in nursing homes may have compromised immune systems. Residents recovering from surgery are at elevated risk of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). Visitors to GP surgeries and dental practices expect clinical-grade hygiene as a baseline, not a bonus.
In Ireland, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) sets 29 infection prevention and control (IPC) standards that apply to all registered healthcare facilities. These are not guidelines. They are legally enforced standards against which your facility will be inspected, and cleaning is at the centre of every single one of them. From surface decontamination protocols to waste segregation, from hand hygiene compliance to cleaning audit trails, HIQA inspectors examine your cleaning operation in forensic detail.
This is why healthcare cleaning cannot be entrusted to a general commercial cleaning company. It requires operatives trained in IPC protocols, colour-coded cleaning systems, hospital-grade disinfectants, documented procedures, and rigorous audit trails. Optus Glean delivers exactly this, across every type of healthcare facility in Ireland.
Healthcare Facilities We Serve
Optus Glean provides specialist cleaning services to a wide range of healthcare environments across all 26 counties. Each facility type has its own unique requirements, and we tailor our cleaning specifications accordingly.
Nursing Homes and Residential Care Centres
Nursing homes are the most heavily regulated healthcare environments in Ireland from a cleaning perspective. HIQA inspectors evaluate cleaning standards as part of every scheduled and unannounced visit. Our nursing home cleaning service covers all resident rooms, communal lounges, dining areas, corridors, washrooms, kitchens, clinical rooms, and external areas. We implement full colour-coded cleaning systems and maintain the documentation trail that HIQA inspectors require.
Hospitals and Acute Care Settings
Hospital cleaning demands the highest level of IPC compliance. Operating theatres, isolation rooms, emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and ward areas all require specific cleaning protocols. Optus Glean follows the HSE National Cleaning Standards Manual for all hospital cleaning contracts, with documented procedures for routine cleaning, enhanced cleaning, and terminal cleaning of isolation rooms.
GP Surgeries and Medical Centres
GP surgeries handle high volumes of patients daily, many of whom attend with infectious conditions. Waiting areas, consultation rooms, treatment rooms, and washrooms all require regular sanitisation using hospital-grade products. Our GP surgery cleaning service operates around practice hours, typically providing evening or early morning cleans to avoid disrupting patient appointments.
Dental Practices
Dental practices generate aerosols, biological waste, and require decontamination protocols that go beyond standard clinical cleaning. We clean and decontaminate treatment areas, sterilisation rooms, waiting areas, and all patient-facing surfaces using products approved for dental environments. Our operatives are trained in sharps awareness and dental waste segregation.
Pharmacies
Pharmacies combine a retail environment with a clinical dispensary. The public-facing shop floor requires regular cleaning for customer impressions, while the dispensary, consultation room, and storage areas require pharmaceutical-grade hygiene. We clean both zones to the appropriate standard.
HIQA Compliance: How We Keep You Inspection-Ready
Passing a HIQA inspection is not something you prepare for the week before the assessor arrives. It is something that must be embedded in your daily operations. Optus Glean builds HIQA compliance into every aspect of our healthcare cleaning service:
- Documented cleaning schedules signed off by operatives after every shift
- Colour-coded cleaning system: red for washrooms, blue for general areas, green for kitchens, yellow for clinical and isolation areas
- Hospital-grade disinfectants with validated contact times for key pathogens
- IPC training certificates maintained for every operative assigned to your facility
- Monthly quality audit reports with photographic evidence
- Incident reporting procedures for spillages, biohazards, and contamination events
- COSHH documentation and safety data sheets for all products used on site
- Method statements and risk assessments specific to your facility
When a HIQA inspector asks for your cleaning documentation, you hand them a folder. Everything is there. That is the Optus Glean standard.
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Standards
Infection prevention and control is the cornerstone of healthcare cleaning. Every surface, every touchpoint, every piece of equipment that comes into contact with patients or staff must be cleaned and decontaminated according to validated protocols. Here is how we implement IPC across your facility:
The Colour-Coded System
Cross-contamination is the single greatest risk in healthcare cleaning. The colour-coded system eliminates this risk by assigning dedicated equipment to specific zones:
- Red — Washrooms and sanitary areas. Cloths, mops, and buckets used here never leave this zone.
- Blue — General areas including corridors, offices, and communal lounges.
- Green — Kitchen and food preparation areas.
- Yellow — Clinical areas, treatment rooms, and isolation rooms.
All equipment is laundered or replaced after every shift. Our operatives are trained to never mix colours, and our supervisors audit compliance during every quality inspection.
Contact Times and Disinfectant Protocols
Not all disinfectants are equal, and applying the right product incorrectly is the same as not applying it at all. Every hospital-grade disinfectant has a validated contact time — the minimum period the surface must remain wet with the product for it to kill the target pathogens. Our operatives are trained on the specific contact times for every product we use, and our method statements specify the correct dilution rates, application methods, and dwell times for each surface type.
Enhanced and Terminal Cleaning
When a patient with a known or suspected infection is discharged or transferred, the room or bay requires terminal cleaning. This goes far beyond routine daily cleaning. It involves full decontamination of all surfaces, equipment, curtains, and soft furnishings using sporicidal or hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) technology where specified. Optus Glean has the trained personnel and equipment to deliver terminal cleans on demand, minimising bed turnaround times.
Our Cleaning Services for the Healthcare Sector
Optus Glean offers three core services that are particularly relevant to healthcare facilities. Each is delivered by trained, Garda vetted operatives under documented IPC protocols.
Healthcare Cleaning
Daily, enhanced, and terminal cleaning for all healthcare environments. Full HIQA and IPC compliance documentation included.
View service →Laundry & Linen Services
Collection, washing, and return of healthcare textiles including bed linen, towels, scrubs, and patient gowns. HIQA-aligned processes.
View service →Washroom Services
Managed washroom supplies, sanitary bins, soap dispensers, hand dryers, and air freshener units for healthcare facilities.
View service →Why Optus Glean for Healthcare
HIQA Audit-Ready from Day One
We do not wait for inspections. Every healthcare contract comes with full documentation from the first day: method statements, risk assessments, training records, cleaning schedules, and monthly audit reports. When HIQA arrives, you are ready.
IPC-Trained Dedicated Teams
Your facility is cleaned by the same trained team every shift. Consistency means your operatives know your building, your residents, and your standards. Every team member holds IPC certification, Garda vetting, and manual handling qualifications.
Integrated Laundry and Washroom
Most healthcare cleaning companies offer cleaning and nothing else. Optus Glean provides integrated laundry services for healthcare textiles and managed washroom supplies, all under one contract. One provider, one invoice, one point of accountability.
24/7 Emergency Decontamination
Biohazard spills, infection outbreaks, and contamination events do not wait for business hours. Our on-call team mobilises for emergency decontamination within hours, any day of the year.
Request a Healthcare Cleaning Quote
Complete the form below and our healthcare cleaning specialist will contact you within 24 hours to arrange a site survey.
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