|
Kothai Pandiaraj
One of the important jobs of the House Keeping Department is clothes and linen management. This involves all functions from purchase of linen to laundering to condemnation. In a hospital different types of clothes and linen are used. The theatre gowns worn by doctors and patients, the doctors coats, bed sheets, additional sheets and pillow covers. In addition to these, we also have napkins, towels, hand towels, table covers, curtains, and cushion covers. It is the job of the Housekeeping Department to ensure clean and hygienic washing of all these items, and then distributing them to different areas of the hospital.
In a multi-specialty hospital, the ratio of beds to linen should be in the ratio 1:4 or 1:5. In an eye hospital the ratio 1:3 is sufficient, as the patients do not stay in the hospital for more than 2 days, and there is very little scope for emergency change of linen, such as blood stain or oozing of wounds. The type of linen purchased depends on the culture and system of the organization. The linen may be cotton or terri-cotton, printed or plain, with or without logo of the hospital printed on it. The linen may be uniform for all rooms or different categories of rooms, and different wards may have different colours. All linen must be stored in a central place the Linen Department. This way it is easier to have a better control on the washing, distribution and maintenance of linen. This Linen Room must be situated close to the laundry or the washing area to facilitate movement. The linen should be stored in cupboards which are neatly labeled on the outside and on the inside, indicating the type of linen stored and the area to which it belongs. Stock of all linen should be taken every week. This helps us trace any linen that has been misplaced, and also helps in tracking damaged linen. Repair to damaged linen should be carried out immediately. Linen that cannot be repaired has to be set aside for condemnation, which should be carried out once a month. This close monitoring of linen helps in good maintenance of linen and stocks. Laundering: The laundry may be in-house or on contract. When giving clothes outside for a wash care should be taken to see that the laundry is clean, the water used is good and that all rules of hygiene are followed. Regular visits to the laundry should be made to ensure that the system laid down by the hospital is being followed. If the laundry is in-house, a washer-man is to be appointed. Care should be taken to see that he maintains a clean washing area, daily washes it before starting to work and follows the rules and systems laid down. Payment may be calculated on a piece by piece basis (ie. the price varies according to the type of linen) or it may be paid as a flat rate (ie. same rate for all types of linen) or the washer-man gets a fixed monthly salary. Sending linen for a wash: Collect soiled linen from every room. When taking the soiled linen, it should be folded to prevent dust from flying about, and put into the laundry bags provided. These bags should be directly sent to the linen room. Here they should be sorted according to their condition and type. Torn linen, linen without stains, linen stained with blood or body fluid, linen with rust stains, should be sorted. Torn sheets and clothes should be sent immediately to be mended. Linen that is very badly torn and cannot be mended should be set aside for condemnation. Linen that is soiled with blood and body fluids should be washed separately and the stains removed. They should then be disinfected and then sent to the laundry for regular wash. Linen with rust stains should first be sent to remove the stain and then sent to the laundry for a wash. Linen should also be separated type-wise, that is, bed sheets, pillow covers, towels, curtains, doctors gowns and coats, and then sent to the washing machine. The washing machine: The washing machine in the hospital is an electric device. At a time, 30 bed sheets, 70 pillow covers or 25 curtains can be washed in the machine. Procedure:
In the free hospital, mats and pillows are provided to the patients to rest. These mats and pillows can get stained by blood or body fluid. This provides an excellent breeding ground for germs. To avoid this and keep these mats and pillows clean and hygienic, mix 100ml of dettol in 5litres of water. Rinse the mats and pillows and wash them with clean water. Then wipe them with this dettol solution. Dettol helps to kill the germs present and makes the mats and pillows hygienically clean. After wiping the mats and pillows with the dettol solution, dry them thoroughly in direct sunlight. Dry cleaning: Silk clothes, clothes with glass work, and other costly clothes should be dry cleaned. Distributing the linen: Linen is distributed to each area of the hospital by the housekeeper in charge of Linen Department. Every house keeper should get the clothes / linen for their respective areas from the stores. It is the duty of the house keeper-in-charge to maintain a register of the clothes / linen supplied, and the clothes / linen received. Frequency for washing:
Format of the clothes/linen Stock Register:
Format of Stock Register of new linen:
A sample format for record of daily use of detergent and water:
A sample format for daily transaction of linen in the ward and OP
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||