On Housekeeping
Sunil Ganjoo lists down some of the housekeeping practices adhered to at the hospital:
Housekeeping is an integral part of any type of hospitality and hospital operation. It is the most-in-demand field in the service industry as every building needs looking after. People in this profession need to be qualified and have skills such as eye for detail, organising and problem solving abilities etc. A very important trait is to be able to handle people and lead from the front.
The housekeeping department work has advanced rapidly and requires not only knowledge of technical skills but also good management practices such as planning, organising, coordinating, acting and monitoring all the activities in hand for effective utilisation of resources. A very important factor is the training and grooming of manpower, making them aware of the latest systems and tools and effective and economic usage of consumables.
As per the hospital infection control committee guidelines the areas are broadly categorised into the high risk, medium risk and low risk areas.
The High Risk Areas include Operation Theatres, Intensive Care Units, Cardiac Catheterisation, Neonatal ICU and Renal Transplant ICU.
Guidelines:
- Hands should be washed; protective clothing such as masks, shoe covers, caps and scrub suit should be changed into.
- When the garbage bags are 3/4th full they should be secured, labelled with area, date and time and sent to the holding room in enclosed garbage trollies.
- The soiled linen from OTs, Isolations and ICU’s is placed in special pink bags. When filled, they are properly secured before transporting to the laundry in enclosed trolleys and treated separately.
- In the ICUs partition curtains are changed after every discharge.
- In the OTs, after every surgery fumigation and carbolisation is done by the paramedical staff
The Medium Risk Areas include Examination rooms, Procedure rooms, Consultant rooms and In-patient rooms.
Guidelines:
- The same procedure as in the high risk areas is followed along with the general guidelines for cleaning.
- In the patient rooms, cleaning is done and services are provided twice a day and on request.
- Beds in the occupied rooms are made by the nurses and the vacant rooms are prepared by Housekeeping.
- For every vacant room, housekeeping maintains a check list of all the amenities, fixtures, fittings and other furniture, etc. which has to be complete in all respects before releasing the room. If there is a maintenance job with short turnaround time, then the engineering rectifies it immediately. In case, it is a major job, then the room is taken out of order.
The Low Risk Areas include Public areas, Waiting areas, Corridors, Basement, Staircases and Elevators.
Guidelines:
- Auto scrubbing machines are used for scrubbing the floors in lobbies and corridors. Crystallisation is done regularly for the proper upkeep of the floor and maintaining its shine.
- In public areas thorough washing is done at night and during the day only dry mops are used.
- The garbage disposal is done thrice a day and also, as and when required.
- In the ICU waiting areas, it is the responsibility of housekeeping to provide shoe covers and gowns for the attendants.
- A schedule is followed for the cleaning of window panes on all the three floors and we have installed uplift Delta machine to facilitate easy cleaning from outside. A low cleaning solution, often containing a little ammonia, is prepared with cold or warm water (never hot).
- For cleaning of elevators, stainless steel cleaners are used on the walls and rinsed thoroughly with warm water. A thin coat of baby oil is applied and buffed in. Stainless steel is the preferred metal for equipment and elevators, especially in a hospital, as it is easy to maintain and is not prone to chips or peeling.
General Cleaning Guidelines
Washing of hands before and after contact with patients is the most important item to remember to protect the personnel and patients.- All equipment in the area should be kept aside before starting the cleaning.
- Soiled linen and garbage should be removed and kept in the designated colour coded bags. Fresh garbage bags should be placed in the dust bins.
- Damp dusting is recommended in the hospital to avoid any kind of allergy or infection due to scattering of dust particles in the air. Damp dusting of all surfaces, lockers, bed, bed table, lamp, chairs, fixtures and fittings shall be done with Bacillocid Solution.
- Floor to be scrubbed with auto scrubbing machines using disinfecting solutions. Or it can be mopped using the designated coloured mops (meant for ICUs. Thereafter, the mop head to be sent to the laundry for disinfection in pink bags.)
- Put proper signages for different works in progress e.g. wet surface, etc. and cordon the injury prone areas. Mops should be wringed properly and should not be too wet, otherwise they increase the risk of a fall.
- Change cleaning solutions and mop heads frequently for best results. As a general rule, change after every three patient rooms.
- Carbonisation of beds and other equipment to be done after every discharge.
- Liquid soap units and paper towels should always be available next to the hand washing areas.
- Separate trolleys to be used for transportation of soiled and clean linen.
- Maintenance jobs to be informed to the engineering and follow up should be done.
- Spring cleaning of the rooms should be done once a week.
