Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Title:
Policy
Reference:
CG-IC-P17
CQC Outcome:
Outcome 8
Version:
VERSION 2
Approved by:
Ratified by:
Date ratified:
Freedom of Information:
Name of originator/author:
Sue Wright
Review Frequency:
Review Date:
Target Audience:
www.peninsulacommunityhealth.co.uk
Contents
1
2
3
4
8
9
10
11
12
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3
Definitions .......................................................................................................... 3
Duties ................................................................................................................. 3
Good Practice Principles .................................................................................... 3
4.1 Personal Protective Equipment.................................................................... 3
4.2 Hand hygiene............................................................................................... 4
4.3 Laundering process ..................................................................................... 4
4.4 Storage. ....................................................................................................... 4
4.5 Transportation and collection ....................................................................... 4
4.6 Incident Reporting........................................................................................ 5
Categorisation and segregation of linen ............................................................. 5
5.1 Clean / Unused Linen .................................................................................. 5
5.2 Soiled / Infected Linen ................................................................................. 5
5.3 Dirty / Used Linen ........................................................................................ 5
5.4 Infested clothes............................................................................................ 6
Other Laundry Items .......................................................................................... 6
6.1 Bed linen ...................................................................................................... 6
6.2 Personal items ............................................................................................. 6
6.3 Uniforms / Work wear .................................................................................. 6
6.4 Manual handling equipment ......................................................................... 7
6.5 Mop heads ................................................................................................... 7
Ward level Laundering/Service User Laundry Areas.......................................... 7
7.1 Environment................................................................................................. 7
7.2 Washing Machine ........................................................................................ 8
7.3 Dryer ............................................................................................................ 8
7.4 Iron .............................................................................................................. 8
7.5 Sluice Facilities ............................................................................................ 8
7.6 Laundry Products......................................................................................... 9
7.7 During outbreaks.......................................................................................... 9
Use of linen within community settings............................................................... 9
Risk Management Strategy Implementation....................................................... 9
9.1 Implementation & Dissemination.................................................................. 9
9.2 Training and Support ................................................................................... 9
9.3 Document Control & Archiving Arrangements.............................................. 9
9.4 Equality Impact Assessment ...................................................................... 10
Process for Monitoring Effective Implementation ............................................. 10
Associated Documentation............................................................................... 10
References....................................................................................................... 10
Type of Change
Date
Description of change
Formatting
June 2012
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1 Introduction
Infection can be transferred from used items of clothing, linen and the environments in which
they are laundered / stored. Therefore effective laundry management is essential to prevent
cross infection between patients and to protect staff that transport and handle used
laundry/linen.
Although in general linen and patient clothing, should be sent off site to be laundered. This
policy recognizes that there are agreed circumstances, where laundering of patient clothing may
take place at ward level by service users or staff.
Policy Aims:
To provide guidance to minimize the risk of contamination during the ward level laundry
process.
To provide guidance to minimize the risk of injury and infection when dealing with linen.
To eliminate possible injury to laundry workers, and damage to washing machines and
dryers, from dangerous items such as sharps.
To provide guidance for service users, visitors and carers
2 Definitions
Clean Linen - Any linen that has not been used since it was last laundered.
Soiled Linen -Used linen which is soiled with blood or any other body fluid; and all linen used
by a patient with a known infection (whether soiled or not)
Personal Protective Equipment - PPE is defined in the Regulations as all equipment which is
intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects him against one or more
risks to his health or safety
3 Duties
This section includes an overview of individual roles, departmental and committee duties
including levels of responsibility:
3.1 Managers
Undertake local risk assessments i.e. identification of Personal Protective Equipment,
adherence to safe practices, environment and immunisation programme, provide training for
staff.
3.2Staff
To undertake training, follow policy and report any incidents.
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4.1.2 Abrasions and cuts should be covered with a water proof dressing and gloves worn.
4.1 3 After handling used linen personal Protective Equipment should be disposed of
immediately and hand hygiene performed
4.4 Storage.
4.4.1 Clean and dirty laundry must be separated.
4.4.2 Infected or soiled linen should be tied & tagged & taken to the designated area. Laundry
bags holding used linen should not be left unsealed / tied for long periods e.g longer 24 hours.
4.4.3 All clean linen must be stored off the floor in a clean, closed cupboard, and must be
segregated from used / soiled linen. It must not be stored within the sluice or bathroom. Linen
cupboard doors must be kept closed to prevent airborne contamination.
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4.5.2 Dirty linen and clean linen must not be transported in the same bag/receptacle/storage
cage.
4.5.3 Cleaning of cages Synergy Responsibility However, receiving units should monitor the
cleanliness of cages on a regular basis, any concerns report to laundry monitoring meeting
4.5.4 Cleaning of vehicles Synergy Responsibility However, receiving units should monitor
the cleanliness of vehicles on a regular basis, any concerns report to laundry monitoring
meeting.
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5.3.2 All linen that falls within this category must be placed within a clear plastic laundry bag.
5.3.3 This system of categorisation applies whether the items are being laundered on-site or by
the laundry contractor.
5.3.4 Used linen bags must be stored in a secure area (either inside or outside), away from
public access, whilst awaiting collection.
5.4 Infested clothes
Should be treated as infected and the same process applies.
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7.1 Environment
7.1.1 A laundry area should be designated for that purpose only, and no other activities carried
out there.
7.1.2 The walls and floors must be washable, sealed and internal decoration to an acceptable
standard.
7.1.3 The area should have a dirty area that flows through logically to the clean.
7.1.4 There must be provision of separate hand decontamination facilities, including hand
hygiene basin with lever taps and no plug or overflow, liquid soap, paper towels, pedal operated
bins.
7.1.5 All necessary Personal Protective Equipment should be provided i.e. gloves, aprons
7.1.6 Food and drinks should not be allowed in the laundry area.
7.1.7 Hand sluicing of personal contaminated clothing by staff should not be allowed as there is
a high risk of areolation of body fluids with potential infection risks to staff.
7.1.8 Machines should only be used for patient clothing and not other items such as mops.
7.1.9 Clean laundry should not be stored in the launderettes.
7.1.10 There must be an agreed cleaning schedule for the launderette
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7.3 Dryer
7.3.1 An industrial dryer should be used which is regularly serviced.
7.3.2 A service log should be maintained.
7.3.3.Dryers must be vented to the outside
7.3.4 Care of the machine follow manufacturers instructions.
7.3.5 The tops and sides should be kept free of items.
7.4 Iron
7.4.1 Care of the iron follow manufacturers instructions.
7.4.2 Look at the label and check the temperature of your iron.
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6.5.2 Manual soaking/sluicing must should not be carried out. The pre-wash/sluice cycle in the
washing machine should be used after removing any solids. It should be rinsed in the washing
machine first at a low temperature as high temperature will bake in blood etc.
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11 Associated Documentation
This document references the following supporting documents which should be referred to in
conjunction with the document being developed.
12 References
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Directorate:
Speciality:
Ward / Dept:
Brief description of physical location covered:
Hazard, Problem or Concern: (Something which has the potential to cause harm/damage)
Cross contamination through the ineffective laundry management
Risk: (What has/will cause the hazard to be realised and what could the impact be if realised)
a. Laundry areas inappropriate, floors walls unable to clean effectively,
b. The room is cluttered and used for storage.
c. Unable to work with clean dirty flow.
d. Washing machines do not meet specific temperatures and are not checked, serviced.
e. Items are not washed at high enough temperatures.
f. No Policy or unit protocol in place.
g. No audit programme or education for staff.
h. No Hand wash sink available.
i. Heat labile linen can not be washed at the required temperature for the heat disinfection process to
take place, as they are likely to be damaged at the thermal disinfection temperatures.
j. Staff Uniform policy that informs staff how to launder uniforms.
k. Storage facilities do not meet Infection Control standards.
l. Equipment does not comply with current infection control standards
m. The designated area for laundry does not meet infection Control standards.
n. Cleaning protocols are not agreed.
Please submit any supporting documentation with this form
Please identify one of the Corporate objectives which will be affected by the risk
identified:
X Objective 1 Achieve excellent service ratings from clients and regulators
Objective 2 Include clients, cares and members in service design
Objective 3 Develop our workforce to meet service needs
Objective 4 To achieve best value and generate a surplus to invest in our services
Objective 5 Diversify and develop services to increase income or meet needs
Objective 6 Provide services from high quality facilities
Objective 7 Promote green working and reduce travel, carbon and waste
Objective 8 Work with our partners in our communities to create life opportunities
Control Measures already in Place: (What is already in place to prevent the hazard being
realised)
Bulk of laundry sent to outside laundry services.
All linen enclosed as soon as possible in impermeable bags and handled with minimum disturbance
All dirty laundry categorised and sealed within correctly colour coded laundry bag, 2/3 full or less, sealed
with swan neck and ties
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1 2 3 4 5
Likelihood 1 2 3 4 5
Priority L M H C
Patients
Staff
Visitors
People
Y
Y
Y
affected
Name, Designation of person completing the risk assessment:
Name:
Designation:
Contractors
Y
Others
Date:
Unacceptable?
What alternative options are there that could be considered to reduce the risk?
What is the preferred option to reduce this risk?
SW
YES
Please recalculate the risk score with the recommended control measures taken into consideration
Consequence
1 2 3 4 5
Likelihood 1 2 3 4 5
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Priority L M
H C
This Assessments
recommended actions and
priorities are
agreed/declined
At which forum?
Position:
Signature:
Date
Name:
Position:
A copy of This Risk Assessment Record, Should be held locally and accessible to staff.
A copy should be forward to the Risk Management Dept for the central library.
Advice on Risk Assessment may be obtained from the Risk Management dept Ex 1019
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Yes
No X
1.
Comments
Race
Ethnic origins
travellers)
Nationality
no
Gender
no
Culture
no
Religion or belief
no
no
Age
no
no
2.
no
3.
If
you
have
identified
potential
discrimination, are there any exceptions
valid, legal and/or justifiable?
no
4.
no
5.
N/a
6.
N/a
7.
N/a
no
(including
gypsies
and
no
If you have identified a potential discriminatory impact of this procedural document, please refer it to
the Equality and Diversity lead, together with any suggestions as to the action required to
avoid/reduce this impact.
For advice in respect of answering the above questions, please contact the Equality and Diversity
lead.
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