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About the All Wales Laundry Service

Man doing hospital laundry

Background

The Shared Services Partnership Committee approved the development of an NHS Wales Laundry Production Units Service Review project at its meeting on 17 May 2016. The objective of the project was to review the existing laundry production units in NHS Wales against industry best practice guidance. The review helped seek to identify any gaps in the existing laundry service that prevent achieving BS EN 14065 June 2016 - the new Welsh Government standard.

The first Project Group meeting was held on 6 December 2016 involving representatives of all NHS Health Boards/Trusts and NWSSP.

 

Existing Arrangements

  • 5 Laundry production units
  • 32m items processed p.a. (including microfibre)
  • £10.1m p.a. direct processing cost
  • £0.31 average cost per item (industry best practise £0.25)
  • 102 items per operator hour (industry best practise 160-180)

None of the existing Laundries are compliant with the required British Standards.

 

Case for Change

BS EN 14065:

  • Introduction of new standards for decontamination of linen.

£13.8m capital investment:

  • BS EN 14065 compliance; statutory requirements; backlog maintenance.

Variations across LPU's:

  • Different ways of working
  • Productivity
  • Cost per unit

Barriers to improvement:

  • Condition of existing facilities.
  • Limited collaboration to date.
  • Lack of capital finance to upgrade all LPU's

 

Projects Scope

The project includes the following NHS Wales laundry production units:

  • Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Laundry Services – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
  • Glangwili General Hospital Laundry Service – Hywel Dda University Health Board
  • Llansamlet Laundry Service – Swansea Bay University Health Board
  • Church Village (old East Glamorgan Hospital) Laundry Service – Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
  • Llanfrechfa Grange ‘Green Vale’ Laundry Service – Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

 

Useful Documents