Section L

LAUNDRY POLICY

INTRODUCTION

Effective laundry management is important to prevent cross infection between patients

and also to protect the staff who transport and handle used laundry. This policy outlines
the systems in place to ensure appropriate segregation and decontamination takes
place.

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE

 Clean linen must be stored off the floor in a clean and dry area, separate from the dirty
utility, bathroom and domestic store. When linen is stored on a laundry trolley the front
cover must be kept down to ensure all linen is covered.

 All linen skips should be lidded.

 Take a linen skip with laundry bag to the bedside to dispose of any used linen. For side
rooms see below.

 A disposable apron must be worn when handling used laundry to prevent uniform
contamination. In addition disposable gloves should be worn when handling fouled /
infected laundry to protect the hands.

 Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after dealing with used linen.

 Handle linen with the minimum of disturbance in order to reduce risk of environmental
contamination.

 Do not place used linen on floors, or carry it against uniforms or around clinical areas.

 Always separate linen when stripping beds and placing into linen bags so any foreign
objects e.g. sharps, syringes etc can be identified and dealt with appropriately. This
action will also protect the portering and laundry staff from personal injury.

 Linen bags and skips must not be kept in side rooms. Dirty laundry should always be
removed from side rooms and placed immediately into appropriate linen bag on exiting
side room and then stored in dirty utility / sluice HRI site. On the CRH site infected linen
to be taken to zonal collection area in tied off red linen bag.

 Never overfill the linen skip. It should be no more than 3/4 full when secured and
placed in the storage area for collection.

Issue Number 3 Page 1 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team
 DISPOSAL OF USED LAUNDRY

Used laundry falls into four main categories: special, fouled / infected, used, and
theatre laundry. Once full and fastened, laundry bags must not be reopened until they
reach the laundry.

Details of bag types and colours used on each site for all categories of laundry can be
found in appendix 1 of this policy.

a) Special laundry

This is laundry that would be damaged in a hot wash e.g. woollens and patients own
clothing.

Special laundry should be placed in the appropriate laundry bag and tied off / fastened
once ¾ full or at the end of the day, whichever comes first. Inform the laundry staff of
this request.

Fouled / infected laundry must be treated as below or sent home for laundering. A
small soluble bag is available from NHS Logistics (Code MVF 010 box of 100) for
soiled linen that is to be taken home for washing. This bag should be placed into the
washing machine unopened and separate from other laundry. Once the seams of the
bag comes in contact with water they open and allows the soiled linen to be washed.
Once the laundry is completed, the two sides of the original bag can be removed from
the washing machine and disposed of. It is important to remove the sides of the soluble
bag prior to drying of the laundry.

b) Fouled / Infected Laundry

This category covers laundry that has been contaminated with blood and other body
fluids (see Standard Precautions Policy for definition of body fluids). It also includes
laundry from patients with specific infections i.e. MRSA and infestations i.e. human fleas.
Fouled / infected laundry must be placed immediately into a water-soluble bag, tied off
at the neck using the tie provided. To prevent sodden laundry from dissolving the water-
soluble bag, wrap in used linen. This water soluble bag must then be placed into a red
linen bag.

This type of laundry is not sorted. The red linen bag is removed and the water soluble
bag is placed directly into the washer.

c) Used Laundry

This is laundry that has been used but is not contaminated with blood or other body
fluids.

Used laundry must be placed directly into a white laundry bag and tied off / fastened
once ¾ full.

This type of laundry is sorted and therefore it is important that contaminated laundry is
not placed into this laundry stream.

Issue Number 3 Page 2 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team
 d) Theatre Laundry

All theatre laundry is bagged in specific laundry bags to identify it from other laundry
streams (appendix 1).

Fouled theatre laundry must be placed onto a red water soluble bag. To prevent
sodden laundry from dissolving the water soluble bag it may be wrapped in dry used
laundry first. Tie off the bag at the neck once ¾ full.

CURTAINS

Domestic services arrange for the changing and laundering of curtains, however, it is
the responsibility of the Ward Manager to ensure this occurs. All areas should have
curtains in clinical areas laundered regularly as per agreed programme for the area.
Curtains are bagged in white laundry bags and washed at 71oC.

When curtains are soiled, a terminal clean of a clinical area is required. This
includes an individual patient bed space following a confirmed micro organism
and at the request of the ICT. These curtains must be handled as infected linen.
Shower curtains should be washable and laundered when soiled or as agreed locally.

MOVING AND HANDLING EQUIPMENT

All launderable manual handling equipment should be single patient use and laundered
when visibly soiled or between patients. This laundry can be sent in a blue net bag.

Equipment must be laundered in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and

should be checked before laundering. As there is a great deal of variation between
companies a general guide of some of the equipment used in the Trust is given below.

Equipment Laundry Method

Slidesheet Machine wash up to 95oC
Universal Handling Belt Machine wash up to 40oC
Padded Handling belt Machine wash up to 90oC
Arjo Sling Machine wash up to 80oC
Patient Care Hoist Sling - CRH Machine wash up to 90oC

When contaminated, laundry should be able to withstand a hot wash of not less than
65oC for 10 minutes or 71oC for 3 minutes. When laundering manual handling
equipment at a higher temperature, staff are requested to contact the Laundry direct for
instructions. The Laundry take no responsibility for any damage caused through
washing at high temperatures.

WARD / DEPARTMENT WASHING MACHINES

Laundry should be processed off the ward unless there has been a local agreement
between the Ward Manager, Facilities and Infection Prevention and Control Team. Only
areas that have such an agreement may have laundering facilities at ward level.

Issue Number 3 Page 3 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team
 a) Equipment Standards, Purchasing and Maintenance

Wards must contact the Facilities / Estates Manager for technical advice prior to
purchasing washing or drying equipment. Domestic washing machines are not suitable
and must not be purchased.

All washing machines must comply with HSG (95) 18, provide a sluice cycle for fouled
laundry and reach satisfactory disinfection temperatures and holding times.

Testing of the heat sensing and any necessary re-calibration of the system should be
carried out and recorded 6 weekly¹.

Records of calibration and annual maintenance of the washing machine and dryer
should be kept by facilities. It is the responsibility of the Ward Manager to ensure these
checks are kept up to date.

The washing process should have a disinfection cycle in which the minimum
temperature in the load is maintained at 65ºC (150º F) for not less than 10 minutes or
preferably at 71º C (160º F) for not less than 3 minutes. With both options, “mixing
time” must be added to ensure heat penetration and assured disinfection¹.

For machines of conventional design and a low degree of loading (for example, below
0.056 Kg/I) four minutes should be added to these times to allow for mixing time. For
machines with a heavy degree of loading (for example above 0.056Kg/I ) it is necessary
to add up to 8 minutes¹.

b) Ward Level Laundering Facilities.

Laundry facilities should be separate from clinical areas and an accessible hand wash
basin must be available. A separate area must be available for tumble drying and
ironing of clean laundry to prevent cross contamination from used laundry.

c) Ward Level Laundering- Staff Issues

Staff involved in reprocessing laundry must receive appropriate training, including

aspects of infection prevention and control such as the use of personal protective
equipment. Hand washing facilities must be available. Eating and drinking should not
be allowed in a laundry room².

Staff must not take Trust laundry home to wash.

LAUNDERING OF UNIFORMS.

All uniforms to be laundered through the Trust Laundry.

The only exception to this is community staff who are based away from the main
hospital sites. For these staff it must be recognised that although wearing disposable
plastic aprons reduces the risk of contamination with blood and body fluids, a uniform
can still harbour a significant number of harmful micro-organisms by the end of a shift.

Issue Number 3 Page 4 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team
 Home laundering still requires appropriate care and attention to ensure potential
pathogens on uniforms are removed or killed, protecting both the patients and the
staff members’ home and family.

The following guidelines therefore apply:-

 For effective disinfection and prevention of cross contamination, uniforms should

be washed separately from other laundry in an automatic washing machine using
the hottest temperature the material of the uniform will withstand and the full load
setting.

 When thoroughly dried the uniform should be ironed with a hot iron to further heat
disinfect the uniform.

 Laundered uniforms should be wrapped in a clean, unused plastic bag to prevent

contamination from the home environment e.g. pet hairs etc.

 Staff require a clean uniform for each shift

 Access to a spare uniform in case of contamination requires the storage of

laundered uniforms in the work place.

ASSOCIATED POLICIES

This document should be read in conjunction with the following Trust policies:-

 Isolation Policy
 Needlestick Injuries: Code of Practice
 Notifiable Diseases Policy

References

 HSG (95) 18. Hospital Laundry Arrangements for Used and Infected Linen.

 Central Sterilising Club (1998) CSC Laundry Working Group Discussion Paper

 Callaghan I. (1998) Bacterial Contamination of Nurses’ Uniforms: a study. Nursing

Standard. 13, 1, 37-42.

 Ayliffe G. et al (1989) Laundering of Nurses’ Uniforms at Home. Journal of Hospital

Infection. 13,91-94

 NPSA. ( 2006). The national specifications for cleanliness in the NHS: a framework
for setting and measuring performance outcomes.

Issue Number 3 Page 5 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team
 Appendix 1

SUPPLY OF LAUNDRY BAGS

HRI: Laundry bags are supplied by the laundry. Red water-soluble bags to be ordered
through NHS Logistics at Normanton.

CRH: Laundry bags and red water-soluble bags are supplied by the ISS Mediclean.

It is the responsibility of the ward staff to ensure adequate numbers of bags are in stock.

BAGGING OF USED LAUNDRY

Used laundry falls into four main categories: special, fouled / infected, used or theatre
laundry. Once full and fastened, laundry bags must not be reopened until they reach the
laundry.

TYPE OF LAUNDRY SITE BAG TYPE/COLOUR

Special laundry CRH/HRI By special request only-contact the laundry
direct for instructions

SLH/HVMH White linen bag with a yellow stripe

Fouled / infected ALL Red water soluble bag inside a red linen bag
laundry

Used laundry ALL White linen bag or/ a clear plastic bag if the
laundry is wet
Theatre laundry Theatre drapes Purple plastic bag sent to Sunlight laundry.
and gowns For infected cases double bag
Bed and trolley Green plastic bag sent to CHT Laundry
linen

Issue Number 3 Page 6 of 6 Section L

Date of Issue: January 2010 Review Date: January 2012 Ref: IC:L:03
Issued by Infection Control Team