TSA fact finding visit
to Belgium underlines potential for improvements in care home sector
‘Food
for thought – and we need to follow the European model.’ Those were the main findings of The Textile
Services Association’s (TSA) fact finding mission to Belgium to investigate the
difference between practices there and in the UK for laundering in the care
home sector. The two day trip took place
in early October, with thirty attendees, comprising of TSA commercial laundry
members and supply partners to the industry.
On
October 3rd they visited CLOVA, a specialist care home processing
laundry near Brussels. On October 4th
there were various presentations including two panel discussions. The first was by laundry operators from Holland and Belgium, who shared
best practice ideas. The second featured
supply chain partners who talked about how innovations in machinery, software
and chemicals are assisting in meeting specific care home requirements. In addition, TSA presented some of the early
findings of its research into the UK care home sector, which was undertaken in
partnership with De Montfort University (DMU).
Hygiene
best practice is at the top of the agenda in the care homes sector and laundry
is a critical area. During the visit it became
clear that outsourcing to commercial laundries in Europe is not
only more efficient but also more sustainable than laundering on site. What’s more, it ensures that the laundry
service complies with appropriate standards (the UK equivalents being BS EN
14065 and HTM-01-04). In addition, it
frees up time for staff so they can work more closely with residents. In the UK over 80% of care homes still
launder on site. In contrast, most European
care homes (90%) outsource their laundry
The DMU/TSA research
underlined the need for change. Over
1,000 people working in the UK care home sector took part in the survey, which was designed to gauge
behavioural patterns and priorities when it comes to laundering in care
homes. The detailed results will be
published soon, but they clearly show that that there are gaps in staff training
and hygiene management in care homes with regards to laundry processes.
A
key challenge for the commercial laundry industry is the size of the care home
sector, which is five times that of the NHS.
“The service we already provide to the NHS and some care homes
demonstrates that we already have the required expertise and protocols in place,”
says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “However,
the huge volumes involved in the care home sector is a big issue – hence the
trip to Belgium to see how laundries there are successfully delivering the
service at a large scale, particularly how they process the high volume of
residential personal clothing.
“The
trip was very informative and I’d like to thank everyone who took part and who
helped organise it. As well as
demonstrating solutions, the visit and presentations raised many
questions. We’re looking forward to
working with care homes to deliver those solutions as we continue on this
journey.”
The
TSA is currently preparing new training and guidance resources for care homes
both for those who operate on premises laundries as well as those who outsource
to commercial laundries. Meanwhile there
several relevant publications on the TSA website, including a care homes
technical bulletin. They can be found in
the document library at tsa-uk.org.
The TSA is the trade
association for the textile care services industry. The TSA
represents commercial laundry and textile rental businesses. Membership
ranges from family-run operations through to large, multi-national
companies. Visit www.tsa-uk.org
for more information.
Press Enquiries:
The Publicity Works: 01263 761000; teaboy@publicityworks.biz
David Stevens, CEO, Textile Services Association,
T: +44 (0)20 3151 5600 M:
+44 (0)7966 531954 E:
david.stevens@tsa-uk.org
Get the latest news on the TSA from tsa-uk.org or from
the TSA
press office at publicityworks.biz