When vulnerable adults are living together in a care home, the risks of infections spreading are high. Their bedding and clothes need to be kept clean, with some linen needing to be processed overnight. Having the right care home infection controls for laundry is essential to keeping items fresh, stopping outbreaks and making sure everyone’s safe.
What is infection control in care homes?
Infection control in care homes are the processes the staff must follow to reduce the risk of illnesses breaking out and spreading amongst residents and team members. With elderly, vulnerable and sick people living together, even common infections like colds and flu can become a danger if they break out in care homes.
To prevent outbreaks, care homes may introduce infection control procedures such as:
- Reporting any symptoms that are spotted and zoning off people who are potentially infected to avoid any cross-contamination
- Putting stringent cleaning processes in place to make sure no viruses or bacteria are left on surfaces, particularly in common areas
- Following hand hygiene or cough and sneeze etiquette rules to minimise the likelihood of infections spreading
What are the most common infections found in care homes?
With lots of people living and interacting closely in one place, common infections such as the below can spread quickly in care homes:
- Influenza and colds have symptoms ranging from a runny nose and sore throat to fevers
- Norovirus is a form of gastroenteritis that causes vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach pain
- Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever
- Seasonal COVID-19 variants can cause respiratory sickness, even if a resident is vaccinated
Older age and underlying health conditions make people more susceptible to infections such as the above. It also means they’re more likely to get sicker if they catch these illnesses. So to keep both residents and team members safe, it’s essential to have tight infection controls in place.
What role does laundry play in infection control?
The clothing, bed linen and towels of all care home residents needs to be kept clean. However, these items are in close contact with individuals, so if they get sick, any viruses or bacteria can linger in the fibres. If these then come into contact with other people or bedding and clothes, cross-contamination can occur. This causes illnesses to spread to staff or other residents and can lead to an outbreak.
As such, it’s important that personal items and bedding from each individual are kept apart from others. Similarly, appropriate handling procedures need to be put in place to stop staff from catching viruses and bacteria from linen. Having strict controls in place to keep clean, used and soiled laundry separate is essential to avoiding the spread of illnesses and meeting care home compliance rules.
Essential laundry infection controls
Although the risks of laundry cross-contamination are high, having the right rules and procedures in place will minimise the chances of infection spreading.
Invest in commercial laundry equipment
Having laundry machines that can handle your capacity and clean to the high hygiene standards you need is the first step towards more effective infection control. Commercial washers and dryers are designed to achieve a quality finish and be used repeatedly in demanding business environments. Many also come with service packages
When choosing the right laundry equipment for a care home, make sure any machine you buy meets WRAS regulations and is Category 5 rated. These are both requirements for care businesses. Also, be sure to calculate how much washing and drying capacity you need and buy machines that match this requirement. This will ensure you can wash and dry the right volume of laundry efficiently.
Put the right laundry processes in place
Having a process for storing, washing and drying your care home laundry will cut the risks of cross-contamination and help you get through high volumes effectively.
Separation and storage
A key element of infection control is keeping clean and used items separate. Keeping items that are heavily soiled or from a resident with a known infection away from those of others is also essential to minimising infection risk. Do this by having coloured and clearly labelled laundry bags or baskets. This will help team members know how the items need to be washed, even if there’s a shift change.
Items can also be kept in the bags and placed in the washing machine or dryer, minimising direct contact between them and team members. For infected or soiled laundry, using sealed soluble bags is recommended. Between washes and laundry collections, make sure any trolleys, baskets or bags are thoroughly cleaned before being reused.
Mechanical effect
For stains and dirt to be removed effectively, the laundry needs to be agitated effectively. The force of the water and rotating drum is key to this, so matching the cycle choice to the dirt level of the items is important. Commercial machines can reach higher spin speeds than domestic, which makes them highly effective at removing stains, even in large loads.
Temperature and time
To thermally disinfect items, they need to be held at a high temperature for a certain period of time. The current HTM01-04 government guidelines on infection control in care homes set out that loads should be held at 65C for at least 10 minutes or 71C for no less than three minutes. It’s important for teams to understand and select the most appropriate cycle option for the items being cleaned.
Smart machines like the WASHCONNECT range also make it easier to track wash temperatures and times to ensure your load is being cleaned correctly.
Chemicals and detergents
Chemicals are, of course, key to achieving a quality clean. This doesn’t just mean choosing and using the right detergent, stain remover or conditioner, but selecting the right dosage. Having guidelines to hand for team members to use will ensure they get better, cleaner results.
Plus, some machines are equipped with auto-dosing functions which dispense the right amount of chemicals for each cycle. This helps to cut down on detergent waste and amount of chemical handling by staff while maintaining good hygiene standards.
Clean machines regularly
Using the same equipment to clean soiled or infected linen is one way to minimise the chances of cross-contamination. To avoid any bacteria or viruses lingering on the surfaces of your washer or dryer, make sure they’re cleaned regularly. Do this by running a hot cycle with no detergent or laundry and washing machine cleaner. You can also manually use a spray and cloth for your dryer.
Train your staff
All staff who come into contact with laundry need to be trained on the impact they can have on infection control. From collecting and handling dirty laundry to storing and rotating clean linen, it’s important that everyone understands the processes and their importance. Making sure they know how to protect themselves with hand hygiene and PPE is also essential.
Use new and appropriate PPE
Whenever staff are handling linen, they should wear clean gloves and an apron to protect themselves from viruses and bacteria. They should also wash their hands thoroughly before and after being in contact with laundry. In cases of soiled or highly contaminated items, wearing a mask may also be preferred. Make sure clean PPE is freely available to staff, alongside disposal bins.
Design your laundry room
Especially if your laundry room is small, it’s important to plan it out to keep it running efficiently and minimise cross-contamination risks. Separate, clearly-labelled storage areas for dirty and clean (above floor level) laundry, a one-way flow system for washing and drying processes and best practice guidance posters on the walls are all recommended.
Making sure any surfaces in the laundry room are regularly cleaned will help maintain hygiene standards. PPE, disposal bins and hand washing facilities should be accessible and clearly labelled. Finally, having machines that meet your care home’s laundry capacity and fit in your room’s footprint will make your processes more efficient and prevent a backlog.
Dispose of soiled and contaminated linens
Some soiled or contaminated linens should be placed in a water soluble bag before being put into a red, clearly-labelled linen bag. This clearly indicates to team members that this linen needs to be handled differently. This may include thermal disinfection or pre-sluicing prior to washing.
If items are determined to be too heavily soiled for cleaning, they should be stored securely and separately to all other linen. You should then get in touch with your local authorities for advice on their final disposal.
WASHCO can help with all your laundry room needs
If you need advice on infection control within your laundry, please get in touch by calling 08000 546 546 or emailing info@washco.co.uk. Our professional, approachable team can help with your questions and are also happy to carry out a free review of your care home’s laundry.