Between making sure residents are being properly cared for and keeping daily operations running smoothly, care home managers have other standards to consider too.
These standards don’t just apply to one element of their home, but all areas, health and safety included.
With visitors and guests coming and going and elderly people being particularly susceptible to picking up germs, especially when cold and flu season strikes, effectively managing infection is a constant battle.
Aside from making sure cleanliness levels are kept on top of, the right cleaning products are used and the correct processes are followed to avoid cross-contamination, there are other, equally-important measures, that need to be followed too.
These measures apply to the handling and processing of laundry, which are very often overlooked but, if applied correctly, play a key role in helping manage germ levels within care homes and minimising the spread of disease. They include:
MEASURE 1: Creating a dedicated space for your laundry
Ideally, you should have just one room, not several, where your laundry is handled and cleaned, all in one place.
This room needs to be well ventilated, which includes having access to an outside wall to enable tumble dryers to take in air from outside and also allow air to freely circulate around the room.
MEASURE 2: Making sure it’s made from the right materials
All of the surfaces in your laundry room, floors included, should be easy to wipe clean and made from impermeable materials that won’t absorb fluids from soiled linen. As a result, the risk of cross-contamination occurring, is kept to an absolute minimum.
MEASURE 3: Keeping your laundry room clean
It goes without saying, but in order to make sure your laundry room is germ-free, you need to clean it regularly. This involves thoroughly cleaning the floor and all surfaces every single day.
You may also want to consider using a sterile air purifier, which can help keep air clean and destroy airborne bacteria and viruses, such as MRSA, SARS and C.difficile.
Your laundry room is the engine room of your laundry processes. It’s also a warm, dry haven for germs and bacteria to breed and multiply. Don’t let this happen in your laundry room, by taking simple measures, such as those listed above, it’s possible to use it as another weapon in your fight against infection control.
For more information about how your laundry room can help minimise the spread of germs and bacteria within your care home or to discuss any of the measures listed above further, contact us on info@jtmservice.com or 0800 652 5692.
