Care home laundry regulations: Your guide to best practice

Ensuring proper laundry management is crucial for maintaining a safe, hygienic environment for your residents – and it’s also a vital part of your infection control measures. Here, we’ll cover the care home laundry regulations you need to be aware of, and provide a guide to best practices for laundry management – hopefully helping you navigate this essential aspect of care provision.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for regulating care homes across the UK. During inspections, the CQC expects to see a safe and sanitary environment for residents. The Department of Health's Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 01-04 provides specific guidelines for linen disinfection in care homes, which are essential for compliance.

Key requirements:

• Disinfection must be achieved in every wash cycle through either thermal or chemical disinfection
• For thermal disinfection, water temperature should reach at least 65°C for no less than 10 minutes, or 71°C for no less than 3 minutes (including mixing time)
• Alternative methods, such as ozone laundry disinfection, can be used if validated and as effective as thermal disinfection

A well-designed laundry area is crucial for minimising the risk of recontamination and ensuring the protection of residents and staff. Key considerations include:

• A designated, separate laundry area used solely for laundry purposes
• A workflow system that physically separates clean and soiled/fouled linen throughout the process
• Procedural segregation of clean and dirty items/areas within the laundry room
• Hand hygiene facilities, including: 
  • A hand wash basin with lever taps (no plug or overflow)
  • Liquid soap and disposable paper towels
  • Pedal-operated clinical and domestic waste bins
  • A first aid kit

It’s important to note that under no circumstances should a manual sluice facility or sluicing basin be used or situated in the laundry room.

Proper handling of dirty linen is essential to prevent the spread of infection:

• Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including plastic aprons and suitable gloves
• Remove linen from residents' beds carefully and place it in appropriate containers based on separation categories
• Avoid holding linen close to the chest to prevent uniform contamination
• Never empty bags of linen onto the floor for sorting
• Use water-soluble bags within cotton sacks in wheeled trolleys to keep linen off the floor before transport to the laundry
• Wash hands properly after handling linen

In on-site care home laundry facilities, use two categories for linen processing:

• Standard process (white/off-white bags):
  • Place soiled items into water-soluble bags or directly into white impermeable bags.
  • Remove any solids from soiled items before bagging
• Enhanced process (red bags):
  • Seal items in red water-soluble bags immediately upon removal from the bed
  • Place the primary container in an impermeable or nylon/polyester bag.
  • Place a bold, clear label on the the outer bag stating 'INFECTIOUS LINEN'

To ensure effective decontamination:

• Process linen as soon as possible after it enters the laundry
• Never open inner water-soluble bags; transfer them directly to the washing machine
• Avoid overloading washing machines
• Use a pre-wash/sluice cycle for heavily soiled items
• Maintain the disinfection cycle temperature at 65°C for at least 10 minutes or 71°C for at least 3 minutes when using thermal disinfection
• Wash heat-sensitive items at the highest possible temperature for the item

After washing:

• Dry items immediately (where possible)
• Store clean linen in a designated clean area, above floor level, and away from the laundry area

Ensure that all staff involved in laundry management receive comprehensive training on laundry procedures and infection control. Provide appropriate PPE, including gloves, aprons, and eye protection when necessary.

It’s also important to have a consistent monitoring and documentation process in place, so implement a system to track wash temperatures and times, and maintain records of laundry processes and staff training for CQC inspections.

By adhering to regulatory guidelines and implementing best practices for laundry, care home managers can ensure a safe and hygienic environment for residents and staff alike. Regular and refresher staff training, proper equipment, and a well-designed laundry area can help streamline laundry processes while maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and infection control. Our range of laundry products has been carefully selected to offer you high-performance cleaning and all the supplies you need to comply with regulatory requirements.

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By prioritising effective laundry management, you're contributing to a safer, more comfortable living environment for residents and staff alike.