Transcript Cleaning at Chelsea and Westminster

Cleaning at
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Cleaning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
 Chelsea and Westminster was the first teaching hospital in the UK to use
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the micro-fibre cleaning system (2004).
If the fibres in a micro-fibre cloth were laid out it would be the size of a
football pitch.
The fibres attract and hold dust by static electricity.
Studies have demonstrated that micro-fibre cleaning clothes are far
superior to any other type of cleaning clothes in removing dust & dirt.
We use micro-fibre cleaning systems across all our wards.
Bleach destroys the micro-fibres so when we need to clean a contaminated
area, for example in an outbreak, we use bleach and an ordinary cloth.
The cloths are used by folding the cloth into quarters and using one quarter
to clean a geographical area e.g. a patients bed, then folding again and
cleaning another area e.g. a patients locker, and so on, until every surface of
the cloth has been used. The cloth is then put into the dirty linen basket
and another cloth is used to continue cleaning in the same manner.
This ensures that bacteria is not spread from area to area minimising cross
infection.
The cloths are laundered on a daily basis in a strictly controlled laundry
system
How it works
What is Microfibre?
Microfibre is a recently developed technique of making ‘cloth’ by crocheting together fibres that
have been split to make them only 1/100th thickness of a strand of human hair. This means that
they are smaller than most bacteria and dust particles. These tiny fibres are crocheted in loops
that work by trapping the dust, etc. within the ‘cloth’.
When used dry,
dirt and bacteria
are attracted to
the fibres by
static electricity
When used
damp, dirt
and bacteria
are drawn up
by the
capillary
action
Microfibre cloths and mops are more efficient in the removal of dirt and dust. By trapping the
particles within the fibres they are removed from the surface rather than moved around and
deposited elsewhere. These particles are then held within the ‘cloth’ until they are released in the
laundering process.
What is Microfibre?
Dirty microfibres.
Static electricity
ensures that the dirt stays
on the fibres, only being released
in the laundering process
Clean microfibres
Why can’t you routinely smell disinfectants
when you walk into
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital?
 Disinfectants are not routinely used for cleaning in
hospitals.
 This is to minimise the risk of the bacteria in the
hospital becoming resistant to the disinfectants that
we use.
 Disinfectants are only used for cleaning the
environment where patients are know to have
diarrhoea and when there are outbreaks of infection.
Why disinfectants are not routinely used in
hospitals to clean the wards:
 Cleaning can remove 80% contamination on a floor
 Disinfection can remove 95% of contamination on
a floor
 An hour later, both surfaces are back to their
former contamination levels
 Environmental disinfection is useful in cleaning of
a contaminated isolation room or closed ward, but
has a limited role in any day-to-day ward cleaning
regime.
Cleaning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
 ISS Mediclean are our current cleaning
contractors.
 The hospital and the contractors work very
closely together to ensure a high standard of
cleaning across the hospital.
 Refer to our PEAT cleanliness scores to see
how effective we are in keeping the hospital
clean