Pippa is an amazing pocket dynamo, running the laundry single handed from 7.30am until 4pm every weekday. Her colleague Lorraine takes over at the weekend and they are both supported by Donna their supervisor who makes up the third member of the laundry team.
Pippa was so generous today, showing me very patiently how she manages to dovetail all the aspects of her role together so that no time is wasted and no machine is ever sitting idle. It was a true study in time and motion - I was hugely impressed with her efficiency in organisation and her real love of what she does. I wll try to do it justice in how I explain it to you! But first some pictures -
Pippa looks after the laundry for the wings - bedding, towels and slings; for the residents - their personal clothes; for physio - pilow cases and towels; for the kitchen - their work wear and tea towels; for social and recreation - towels and tea towels. Everything has to be collected - see the laundry tolley in the picture - sorted, loaded into the machines for washing and then drying, ironed, folded, sorted into baskets or the trolley and returned. Pippa goes round to each wing on average 3 times a shift to collect the normal washing; then 3 times to collect the 'red bag' of special washing; then 3 times to deliver the clean towels and sheets to the laundry stations on the wings; plus delivery of the washing for the teams. She is a maestro of machinery aswell with 3 giant washing machines which have 6 specialist cycles and are primed with detergents automatically; 3 tumble driers and one smaller washing machine for delicate washing of residents clothes who are sensitive to detergents; 2 industrial irons - one flat roller style for sheets, pillow cases and tea shirts and a super steam iron for shirts, dresses, trousers and skirts. I was trusted to have a go at the roller iron so if the sheets are a bit crumpled tomorrow you will know why!
I was greatly impressed with the genuine care Pippa takes for making sure everything is done properly and to a high standard. Pippa told me that it is so important to her that our residents look their best; it is matter of dignity and respect for them as people, as individuals. Her commitment to ensure that the staff on the wings have a ready supply of fresh bedding and towels is paramount. Pippa is a quiet person but she shared her love of her job with me freely. She hoped that the lack of creases in the sheets communicated her care! It takes a competent person to manage and maintain the machinery; to organise the day's routine efficiently so that there are no backlogs and to establish systems for collection and storage too. Courage is a strange thing to think about for laundry but Pippa shows courage in working alone, taking the responsibility every day for ensuring that there are sufficient clean resources for the care staff and that the residents can keep their own identity through their clothes. I think its this personal commitment to our residents that make Pippa and the laundry team so special because it shows true compassion.
Interesting fact: Did you know that any items that need 'special attention' are tied separately into a bio-degradable red plastic bag on the wings? Then this bag is loaded straight into the washing machine on a heavy duty 'sluice wash'. As the wash cycle progresses the bag disintegrates allowing the item to be thoroughly washed and when the machine is unloaded the red bags are disposed of and the laundry is processed in the usual way to the drier, iron etc. Very impressive!
Amazing statistic: Each bed has at least 2 sheets a day, some are changed up to 4 times a day! If we calculate that 60 beds have 2 sheets a day, 365 days a year then that works out at a minimum of 43,800 sheets washed every year....and I can't begin to calcluate how many pillow cases or towels are washed and processed! What a good job they have a special ironing machine.....