Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Quantum Care models training for cleaners programme
While training for care home personnel is increasingly broad-based, its focus is on establishing and maintaining best practice in patient care terms. National care home provider Quantum Care has been tackling the training of its cleaning personnel in a new initiative with solutions and technology specialist, Prochem Europe.
As part of the Health & Social Care Act 2008, Care Quality Commission registration requires care home providers to comply with essential standards of quality and safety that includes risk of exposure to infections.
Consequent national cleanliness specifications provide a framework for providers of care homes to demonstrate to the CQC how they ensure their premises are clean and safe and meet the required standards.
Clearly, effective prevention and control of infection should be part of everyday practice and applied consistently by everyone.
Since 2001 for hospitals, and 2009 for ambulance trusts, a national specification for cleanliness has been available to assist home providers in ensuring they provide a cleaning service which meets the required standards.
Over recent years, Welwyn Garden City-based group Quantum has been sourcing cleaning products for its 26 homes from Prochem Europe which also happens to be the UK's primary provider of training to cleaning professionals, whether independent, contracted or in-house.
"Most of our homes use a blend of Prochem products ranging from deodorisers to walk-behind hot water extraction machines," says Quantum's head of cleaning & catering, Donna Steeden.
"We buy these either directly from Prochem itself or from appointed distributors, notably Nursing & Hygiene in West Sussex. The reason we stick with Prochem as a brand is that it offers a wide range of solutions specifically designed for the kind of spills and stains that we encounter in our day-to-day operations and provide first-rate service support.
Quantum homes favour Prochem's Fivestar extraction machine but also buy in the larger Polaris 500 extractor and its LW30 floor scrubber driers.
The compact and manoeuvrable FiveStar is ideal in delivering the features of a larger walk-behind machine in a much smaller package. Fast working and easy-to use, it's a popular choice in homes offering 45-beds or more.
The powerful, higher-capacity Polaris 500 makes corridor carpet cleaning simple and, fitted with the appropriate Prochem accessory, is next ready to tackle challenging hard floor tiled areas and bathrooms.
A complementary solutions system devised for care home and healthcare use falls within most home cleaning schedules, comprising Prochem Neutra-Soft, Citrus Gel, Stain Pro and Natural Carpet Deodoriser chemicals.
"We like how Prochem can tailor solutions to meet our needs," says Donna. "Sanitisers, neutralisers, stain removers, pre-spotters and detergents have been carefully matched to the requirements of hospitals and care homes.
"And they offer a range of odour control products in a handy guide to identifying and sourcing a solution to any stain or odour problem encountered in what after all can be very demanding environments."
Quantum recognises the importance of training to a safe and effective home. So how does this translate in real terms to cleaning?
"We've embarked on a series of seminars at our headquarters that go above and beyond the machine training our homes get as part of their installation service," says Donna.
A seminar held for 15 heads of housekeeping from various Quantum homes tackled the use of products and machines and a further event is planned for later this Summer.
"Prochem holds a series of cleaning training events at a dedicated training academy in Surrey all year round, so they know how to reveal best practice and educate cleaners into effecting it."
Prochem plans to extend its dedicated in-house training to the care home sector during 2017.
Says sales manager, Phil Jones," We recognise it's not always possible to get healthcare cleaners out to day-long courses like ours so exporting our training and its related materials into the homes themselves is making good sense.
"Healthcare environments make very specific challenges to cleaning operatives and knowing what to use, how and when can only bring faster, more effective and safer practices to the sector."
Phil and his team are also taking the message about cleaning for care homes to other providers, including 14 homes operated by Signature.
He adds: "We are happy to arrange product awareness and training seminars for any other healthcare provider, be that a group or independent."
T: 00 44 (0)20 8974 1515
E: [email protected]
W: www.prochem.co.uk
29th September 2016