There are very few sectors in which laundry regulation and compliance are more tightly controlled than within the care sector.
Here, the efficiency of a laundry is as much about safeguarding hygiene standards as it is about ensuring optimal efficiency and performance, as evidenced by the raft of legislation within which UK care facilities must operate.
Indeed, even for experienced laundry professionals and care home managers, the task of keeping pace with current laundry compliance best practices is a huge challenge. That’s why we’re here to lighten the load with a round-up of up-to-date care home laundry regulations from across the UK’s key governing bodies.
First things first: Who oversees care home laundry regulation in the UK?
Three main regulatory bodies preside over care home laundry compliance in the UK, and you should already be familiar with them. They include:
- Care Quality Commission (CQC): The primary regulator for the care sector in England.
- Care Inspectorate: Scotland’s version of the CQC.
- Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW): As the name suggests, this is the main care home inspectorate for Wales.
Within their regional jurisdictions, these three independent bodies serve as the predominant boots-on-the-ground enforcers of safe laundry practices in British care homes and associated facilities. Through regular inspections, they ensure that care homes abide by current laundry and linen-management best practices, as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008; more on this later.
What are regulators looking for from care home laundry compliance?
What exactly are the CQC looking for? And, more importantly, which oversights (inadvertent as they may be) could land you in hot water with your local care inspectorate?
Of course, much of care home laundry compliance centres around hygiene. The CQC and its counterparts want to see that care home laundries are being managed with the utmost attention to cleanliness and hygiene, with adequate steps taken to ensure reliable and consistent infection control.
But that’s not all. Also on the CQC’s hit list is evidence of clear, well-adapted laundry procedures, along with a comprehensive approach to staff training. Essentially, they want to know that your laundry runs smoothly and safely all year round – not just in time for your annual inspection.
What does the Health and Social Care Act 2008 say about care home laundry regulations?
The main thrust of all laundry room regulations stems from the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This remains the overarching remit against which all commercial laundries are appraised in the UK, including those operating in residential care homes and comparable facilities.
So, what exactly does the Health and Social Care Act say about the measures care home managers should be implementing to maintain optimal laundry hygiene and safety? Well, there are six core areas to focus on, including:
- Handling: Laundry workers in care facilities should wear appropriate PPE when handling all laundry items. That will typically include gloves and an apron, which should be changed whenever a person is handling soiled or clean linens.
- Segregate: Linens should be segregated at all stages of the laundry cycle, minimising the risk of cross-contamination while maintaining peak infection control. As a minimum, it’s absolutely critical that soiled linens are separated from clean; barrier washing machines provide the perfect solution for this.
- Storage: Clean linen should be stored in a clean, dry area well above floor level to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Used linens should be kept completely separate, preferably in an entirely different part of the laundry.
- Trolleys: It’s imperative that separate trolleys are used to collect used linens and re-deliver clean ones to residents throughout the facility. If this isn’t adhered to, it may compromise all other segregation efforts within the laundry, dramatically increasing the risk of contamination and infection.
- Washing: Items should be washed using appropriate commercial laundry equipment at temperatures that negate the risk of combination while eliminating bacteria. Suitable detergents and cleaning agents should also be used, while clean and used linens must be kept separate throughout the wash cycle.
- Used: Used linens should always be stored in an appropriate bag, basket or trolley until they’re ready to be washed – not loose on the floor or elsewhere in the laundry facility.
That’s a snapshot of the sort of measures that care home laundries should be taking to maintain compliance and ensure that they’re ready for their next visit from the CQC. Consider it a checklist of basic measures that care home managers can use to prepare for future laundry inspections and internal audits.
Essential tips for maintaining a compliant care home laundry
Here at JLA, we work closely with thousands of care homes up and down the UK. This has given us unique insights into the challenges that laundry managers face in ensuring that their facilities remain safe and compliant – insights that have lent themselves perfectly to our list of expert recommendations below…
Tip one: The easiest way to maintain infection control is to introduce improved laundry separation measures
One of the core principles of safe linen management and infection control outlined by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 is the introduction of stringent laundry segregation protocols. Half the battle of minimising the risk of cross-contamination in care home laundries comes from keeping clean linens separate from used ones, so introduce practical changes that make this simpler.
For example, you might reconfigure your laundry suite to make it easier to maintain optimal segregation – designating new surface areas for used and clean laundry. Alternatively, you might invest in a barrier washer that introduces a physical barrier during the wash cycle, helping you to maintain peak processing rates without compromising infection control.
Tip two: Ensure that you’re well-versed in HTM 01-04
As a professional laundry manager, you should be familiar with the scope of the Department of Health’s Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 01-04. This essentially builds on the guidance of the Health and Social Care Act, focusing on the specifics of disinfecting linens in a care home environment.
If this memorandum is news to you, you can learn more about it (and download a copy) as part of our comprehensive guide to safe care home laundry management.
Tip three: Know the approved disinfection temperatures for laundry cycles…
And make sure your staff know, too. The industry-approved temperature is 65°C for no less than 18 minutes to ensure efficient disinfection, falling to 11 minutes at a wash cycle temperature of 71°C. That’s according to the latest recommendations from the Department of Health.
Of course, another option to ensure effective infection control in 99.99% of cases is to lean on JLA OTEX technology. Our patented infection control system eliminates harmful bacteria in cold-wash cycles by utilising ozone – a natural gas produced when oxygen molecules are split into single atoms by an electrical charge.
With the OTEX system in place, you can ensure that laundry cycles are infection-free to HTM 01-04 standards. Our system also provides integrated reporting, ensuring a streamlined auditing process and proof of best practice.
We hope this introduction to care home laundry compliance and best practice proves useful for you. Should you require additional assistance in maintaining or improving your on-site laundry facility, the team at JLA is here to help. Contact us today for more information or visit our care home hub to learn more.
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