Laundries and sorting plants at the Hořovice Hospital, the Rehabilitation Hospital Beroun and Multiscan in Pardubice, which are part of the AKESO medical holding, ensure that patients and healthcare workers always have clean linen at their disposal. Their work takes place in seclusion, yet it is absolutely irreplaceable.
Every piece of linen is important
The laundry day starts at 6:00 a.m. with the collection of laundry from all wards. Bed linen, towels, pillows, blankets, patient shirts and staff work clothes are brought in bags placed in caged containers to the room, the so-called dirty section. There, everything is weighed and sorted by type. Most of the laundry goes to an external laundry, as the large volumes could not be handled by small teams without industrial machinery. However, some types of laundry are washed on site - for example, newborn clothes or small textiles.
"Smaller items, such as baby clothes from the maternity ward, are washed in the hospital. And folding laundry for newborns is always a joyful part of the job," says the hospital's laundry manager with a smile
Hořovice Šárka Kušková.
Logistics in a big way
The volumes handled daily in the facilities are staggering. In Hořovice, around 500 kilograms of laundry are processed daily, and more than a tonne on weekends. In Beroun, the figures are similar, with an average of 380 kilograms per day. In total, several tonnes of laundry pass through the hands of female employees every month.
Nadiya Dudar, head of laundry and cleaning at the Beroun Rehabilitation Hospital, explains, "We have to pick up each piece of laundry and sort it according to the label into the correct department. The work is sometimes really physically demanding. The bags and cages weigh tens of kilograms." Yet, as the laundry managers confirm, it is a well-functioning team, proper logistics and careful work that ensure that the hospital can run smoothly and provide quality care to patients.
Even in Multiscan in Pardubice, laundry plays an important role, even if the volumes are not so large. The complete service is taken care of by the orderlies Emilija Vojčuk Beňová and Martina Madáková. In addition to taking care of patients, they also take care of counting the laundry, handing it over to an external laundry and then sorting it to the ambulances and staff. "Our task is to check the clean linen and store it, for example, in the staff lockers. We are also assisted by the pipe mail, which makes part of the work much easier," says Emilija Vojcuk Beňová, a sanitary worker at Multiscan.
Clothing repair and safety as a priority
Clean and properly sorted linen is not only a matter of comfort, but above all hygiene and safety for patients and staff. Without it, it would be impossible to ensure the normal running of the hospital. Repairing damaged items, especially workwear, is also part of the job. "For example, we shorten trousers when they don't fit. And we mainly repair operating theatre scrubs, which have to be washed, disinfected and sterilised after each use to make them safe again. But this wears them out quickly. When possible, we repair garments on sewing machines to make them last. Of course, sometimes it is necessary to issue a new piece from stock," adds Šárka Kušková.
Small teams with big importance
Although not numerous, all the teams work efficiently thanks to cooperation and discipline. The linen is taken care of by three-person female teams in Hořovice and Beroun, and two female orderlies in Pardubice. "Although the work is demanding, we are a good team with our colleagues who have worked here for many years. This is a great motivation for me," says Nadiya Dudar. Without the work of the laundry workers, the hospital could not ensure smooth operations, as clean clothes for staff and prepared beds for patients are essential for daily care.
This article and many more can be found in our latest issue of NÉA magazine.
