Why Good Laundry Practice Is Vital To Your Care Home
Thorough and efficient laundry practices in a care home are not only vital for a safe and smoothly functioning establishment, but for the health and happiness of residents too. Care homes will typically require large, commercial washing machines and commercial driers to handle the laundry demands of such a residence, and ensuring that you use equipment correctly and follow health and safety protocols is imperative. The knock on effects of good laundry practices can be felt by everyone – staff and residents – in a care home.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways good laundry practices impact a care home.
Health
It is crucial for your residents’ health and wellbeing that stringent health and safety standards are met in a care home, and this encompasses decontaminating linen and clothing. Meeting the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM 01-04) guidelines is a good place to start to ensure you are complying with government regulations.
Meeting guidelines isn’t just important from a legislative point of view, the impact of providing thorough laundry processes will have a direct impact on the health of residents and staff. For staff, proper laundry handling procedures will protect them from dangerous contamination and make laundry work more efficient. Residents will benefit from linen and clothes which have undergone careful cleaning or sufficient thermal and chemical decontamination. Items which have not met adequate cleaning standards can contribute to the spread of illness, which can be particularly dangerous for the elderly.
Resident happiness
Having freshly laundered, clean clothes to hand is key to maintaining residents’ happiness, affording them individuality and dignity in a setting where much else is, inevitably, beyond their control. By having sufficient laundry facilities and efficient processes on site, laundry can be carried out frequently and to a high standard. Having machines with varying settings, or different kinds of machines, can also help to ensure all needs are met – for example, both decontamination and caring for clothes which are more delicate. This will ensure residents can continually enjoy a choice of laundered clothing and a fresh room.
Attracting new residents
Nursing homes which are able to offer and demonstrate a high quality of care will be more successful in attracting new residents. Whilst the physical premises of a care home will play an influential role, the facilities available will also help shape an opinion of your establishment. If you are able to highlight that you adhere to a high standard of cleanliness and provide thorough laundry practices, this will definitely work in your favour with prospective residents and their families.
Aventus Group have over 20 years of experience providing high quality commercial equipment to a wide selection of clients. We are able to meet the needs of a wide variety of organisations, supplying efficient laundry equipment from reputable brands. With attentive after-sales, maintenance and repairs services, you can rest assured you are opting for a dependable and long-lasting laundry solution with Laundry Services And Supplies. If you have any enquiries, get in touch with our helpful team today – we operate nationwide.