JLA’s infection control expert Helen Buchan explores how care homes can make their operations more sustainable without increasing costs – or compromising the quality of their care.
Aware of the challenges care homes face in balancing running costs, quality care provision, and pressure to act on sustainability, JLA recently carried out a UK-wide survey of care home owners and workers to understand the sector’s relationship with ESG.
Consistent themes emerged, with 89 per cent of respondents telling us sustainability is important to their strategy, and 59 per cent setting sustainability goals in their operations. This shows that a large majority of care home operators want to do more, and that, promisingly, many are already are. Indeed, 81 per cent of respondents described setting up energy efficiency initiatives, and 70 per cent of respondents were looking to drastically reduce waste in the near term.
However, 56 per cent of respondents told us that budget constraints are a barrier to movement, 52 per cent cited a lack of time or resource to make meaningful change, and a further 41 per cent reported knowledge gaps inside their organisations, hampering efforts to get initiatives off the ground. This suggests that some providers are unsure where to start on their journeys, and that others believe radical change is either prohibitively expensive, or too difficult to implement.
With so much to think about from day-today, many care home managers also told us that engaging with sustainability can feel overwhelming – another thing to juggle
So, why does sustainability in care matter in the first place?
The growing role of ESG in social care
Making a shift towards more sustainable thinking isn’t just the ethical choice – it’s rational. Elements of the NHS’s Net Zero targets are already making their way into the social care model, while the CQC is more than likely to include environmental impact and similar requirements in future audits, making future-proofing a smart policy.
ESG also makes a difference to staff morale and retention. We’ve consistently seen that, by achieving staff buy-in, organisations can take more meaningful steps towards change, without major investment. Ultimately, this is because people want to work for organisations whose values reflect their own; care home staff – like most of us – recycle at home and talk to their children about sustainability, so naturally they want their workplace to reflect those values too. Furthermore, visibly improving sustainability can also matter to staff who have moved from countries where they have witnessed first-hand the impact of environmental issues on their communities.
The effects can be powerful for residents, too. One of our customers recently introduced motion sensors alongside a policy to turn off TVs and radios in empty lounges; in the home’s dementia units, residents recognised these measures as a cue for bedtime. They went to their rooms, got into bed, and, crucially, stayed there, with the change improving their sleep, appetite and behaviour.
In other ways, residents’ loved ones also have an influence on these choices. Whether it’s children, parents, or grandparents, sustainability is high in the public consciousness – and people do genuinely notice moves like switching to biodegradable cups, wooden stirrers, and cutlery.
Starting today with practical, low-cost changes
Switching to LED lighting in communal areas is a quick, cost-effective way to eliminate unnecessary energy use. Pairing those systems with motion sensors – particularly in lower-traffic areas like toilets and corridors – will further drive down costs. Then, a ‘TV off’ policy for empty areas should continue to reduce electricity use.
Similarly, better educating staff on sorting waste will help you recycle more. This could be as simple as clearly labelling bags and bins and giving ongoing feedback to improve compliance. In the kitchen, this might look like tracking meal uptake and adjusting portion sizes to minimise leftovers and waste. You could even find it useful to repurpose staff uniforms and old linens by partnering with local textile recyclers – older items can often be reused or transformed into fillings, pet beds, or respun for charity clothing, keeping them out of landfill.
Investing in technology is another plus: why not consider going paperless by introducing digital care plans, or putting systems in place to stop unnecessary printing?
Elsewhere, we’ve seen customers moving to microfibre cloths instead of plasticheavy mops and buckets. A switch to more biodegradable products, and eliminating bleach and destainers, could also produce clean results and longer lifespans for linen, saving you more over the long term.
How energy-saving equipment can support your goals
When it comes to making sure your existing setup is as efficient as possible, another crucial step is making sure your critical equipment is serviced regularly. This approach helps to ensure air conditioning units, washers, and dryers can live longer, perform better and use less power – and that you’ll be more likely to avoid costly breakdowns that could go on to affect residents and staff.
A bigger project might involve a more strategic upgrade to fit-for-purpose equipment. Here, the first port of call for energy savings should be your laundry room – and specifically any domestic systems being used there. This is because an 8kg domestic machine and an 8kg commercial model differ wildly in spec, performance and energy use, without taking up much more space. And because, by investing in a fit-for-purpose commercial appliance, you’ll enjoy multiple additional benefits. These include faster cycle times, with machines completing a 40°C wash in as little as 30 minutes versus a two- or three-hour cycle; and greater durability, with commercial machines built to handle up to 30,000+ cycles.
There are even machines that measure absorbency (not just weight) to optimise your water use, saving more energy by minimising the need to rewash loads.
On top of this, commercial machines can be programmed to handle infected linen in line with healthcare standards. JLA’s own OTEX system uses ozone to effectively kill 99.999 per cent of harmful microbes including coronavirus and heat-resistant, spore-forming bacteria such as C. difficile. Better yet, it does all this using lower wash temperatures than traditional thermal disinfection, reducing electricity use.
The future of care sustainability
As well as the steps you’re taking internally, you should always take the opportunity to work with organisations across your supply chain. Don’t be afraid to push for alternatives, or seek clarity on incoming regulations and how they might affect your compliance. It’s worth remembering that many of your suppliers will be taking their own sustainability journeys, which should mean they’re ready to support you with greener solutions tailored to your own needs.
Taking stock now will also give you the chance to get up-to-speed on what’s coming down the line. At JLA, we’re always looking five to seven years ahead, liaising with manufacturers and researching new solutions to complex challenges; this curiosity allows us to keep one eye on tomorrow
It bears repeating that you don’t have to choose between sustainability, safety, and compliance. Having a well-defined sustainability strategy now can only help you control costs, maintain compliance and deliver high standards of care as you go forward.
To find out more visit: www.jla.com/care
Helen Buchan
As head of product at JLA, Helen plays a key role in sourcing the best commercial equipment for the care sector. Her work is driven by research and innovation; she looks to deliver smart compliance solutions that reduce both energy use and operational costs for organisations across the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
