Millbrook Healthcare is a subsidiary of Millbrook Industries, which was originally formed in 1946 as a re-upholstery company. Millbrook remains family owned and managed and has achieved great progress since its conception. The continued growth is due to the progressive management style and the commitment of its employees. Millbrook Industries Ltd has four principal operating areas:

• Beds
• Furniture/Furnishings
• Healthcare
• the specialised spraying of armoured vehicles in Europe for military clients.

As a Group, Millbrook has sales of approx £35m and currently employs around 450 people. In times of high demand or unforeseeable circumstances, each subsidiary can call upon the support and resources of the larger Group, creating a smooth and robust process that will guarantee continuity of service.

Millbrook Healthcare was formed in 1998, when Millbrook was awarded its first wheelchair service contract. Millbrook’s first Community Equipment Service (CES) contract was awarded by Plymouth Health Authority in 2000.

Community Equipment contracts involve providing up to 240 different products designed to assist with daily living in service users’ own homes rather than them be admitted to a nursing home or hospital. It also includes the installation directly into service users’ homes of minor adaptations, such as handrails, door entry systems, concrete steps, etc., as well as assisted technology, such as Telecare.

Millbrook’s commitment to quality, as well as its determination to reduce the environmental impact of its operations, is borne out in its accreditation to ISO9001:2000 and ISO:14001:2004.

To facilitate the CES service, Millbrook developed an online ordering system, which includes a photographic image of each product. Prescribers can use this system to order their requirements and request a delivery date. After the product is no longer required, Millbrook collect, decontaminate to the latest infection control standards and recycle the products ready for re-use. All products are barcoded and this, combined with unique item serial numbers linked to manufacturers’ information, reduces operator error and provides full product history and traceability.

Millbrook Healthcare is currently the service provider for Community Equipment Services for:

• Southwark
• Merton
• Redbridge
• Hackney
• Brent
• Kingston
• Wandsworth
• the county of Surrey
• the county of Bedfordshire

As such, Millbrook services a total population of approximately 3.2 million.

Millbrook is also the current contractor for wheelchair services for:

• Bedfordshire
• Barnet
• Brent
• Camden
• Watford
• West Berkshire
• West Hertfordshire
• Northwest Thames
• Northamptonshire

Millbrook provides wheelchair services for approximately 50,000 users.

Millbrook’s health services are provided by 160 staff, using a total of 69 vans, operating from nine UK depots.

Millbrook Healthcare places a high importance on performance management, resulting in continuous process and performance improvement across the whole business and ensuring the quality of service for service users. Performance information is at the heart of the decision-making process and a performance management culture is embedded across Healthcare to ensure our services meet the needs and expectations of service users.

Millbrook provides a dedicated customer service centre and a dedicated out of hours response team, guaranteeing the safety of the service. Consequently, service users can always get through to a person, rather than a machine, day or night, seven days per week. Millbrook Healthcare is currently running to an average response time for answering a call of 4 seconds.

Service user satisfaction surveys, continually conducted by Millbrook Healthcare, demonstrate the high levels of satisfaction achieved across all of Millbrook’s CES contracts, with a standard of over 90% ‘good/excellent’ scores sustained across the board.