Properly sanitising and sterilising healthcare laundry is essential for the overall hygiene of medical facilities. However, handling the sheer volume of uniforms, scrubs, bedsheets, and surgical linen can be too much for the busy clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes in Singapore. Outsourcing the burden to a professional service provider that offers laundry for hospitals is a great solution for reducing the associated costs and labour. But can your medical facility rely on just any B2B laundry provider? Here is a brief guide to distinguishing excellent healthcare laundry providers from the rest:
It is very important to recognise the differences between regular commercial laundry cleaners and healthcare laundry providers. While both offer large-scale laundry services for various organisations, medical laundry services specialise in cleaning and sanitising healthcare laundry to align with Singapore’s safety regulations. The best medical laundry service providers have years of experience in the field, with facilities designed to address the unique requirements of healthcare laundry. Commercial laundry providers, on the other hand, may not have the proper facilities to safely remove hazardous biological waste from medical linen, eliminate medicine stains, or disinfect as required by hospitals.
Medical laundry service differs from regular commercial laundry service as we pay special attention to disinfecting the linen. This ensures the safety of staff and patients who come into contact with the linen on a daily basis. The process is very different from washing restaurant and hotel linen. From the high temperature and chemical requirements, special machinery and anti cross-contamination features, medical laundry plants are set up and run on a very different platform.
Sanitising healthcare laundry is a critical requirement during pandemics and other similar medical emergencies, as demonstrated by the recent COVID-19 situation. At a time when medical facilities are overburdened, the laundry service you choose must have a robust pandemic-preparedness strategy. That includes both the seamless continuation of services during the crisis as well as meeting the high standards of hygiene required by law. Your healthcare institution can safeguard daily operations, streamline processes, and remain compliant by outsourcing laundry services to the provider with a pandemic contingency plan.
The “Environmental Cleaning Guidelines for Healthcare Settings” from the Ministry of Health in Singapore has a whole chapter on laundering medical textiles. These recommendations must be followed by all medical facilities in the country to maintain compliance. In addition, many hospitals and clinics in Singapore have internal protocols in place to ensure optimal disinfection. The ideal healthcare laundry provider will be able to adhere to these standards without increasing the cost or compliance burden on medical facilities.
Much like vital medicine, healthcare facilities cannot afford to wait around for medical laundry to arrive. The best service providers offer reliable on-time delivery of laundered items, with measures in place to minimise disruptions. In addition, all trolleys and trucks are sanitised to ensure the clean linens are not compromised during delivery.
Test washing helps both medical facilities and laundry providers determine if a fabric can withstand the complex cleaning, sanitising, and disinfection processes at the provider’s site. This prevents costly errors in purchasing and leads to long-term savings.
NY Laundry offers all-in-one healthcare laundry solutions in Singapore, with an emphasis on disinfection and pandemic readiness. We are highly experienced in following compliance requirements and hospital protocols for sanitation. Your medical facility can benefit from a stringent healthcare textile disinfection process that keeps costs low and delivery times prompt. Get in touch with us to get a quote for a medical facility of any size.
