Improving laundry practices: critical for infection prevention

Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a cornerstone of care home management, ensuring the health and safety of some of society's most vulnerable individuals. While often overlooked, laundry management is a vital aspect of IPC, with over 17,000 care homes in the UK who between them launder over 450,000 individuals' bedding and personal items. Poor practices in handling and laundering textiles can facilitate the transmission of infectious disease, posing risks to both residents and staff. Recent research by De Montfort University and the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) Care Home Special Interest Group (SIG) has highlighted the need for standardised, evidence-based guidance and training to aid care homes in effective IPC process for laundry.

In the UK, infection control policies exist (Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 01-04 —Decontamination of linen for health and social care) that provide guidance for laundries that process healthcare linens. This includes dealing with any laundry used in any health and adult social care settings, including care homes. However, the accessibility, usability, and implementation of these policies within care home settings — and how these policies are monitored — is not widely known.

The CQC emphasises the need for IPC policies that are specific to the operational context of each care home. In addition, the NHS provides comprehensive guidelines for environmental cleaning and laundry management as part of broader infection prevention strategies, recommending clear segregation between clean and soiled linens, adequate laundering temperatures, and the use of appropriate detergents.