Advice on how to tackle the following would be greatly appreciated.
I live in a housing association independent retirement living complex for over 55s. We have a communal laundry with 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. For the last year or so we have regularly found lumps of poo in the washing machines. One of the residents should really be in a care home as he is bed bound and cannot use the toilet or even leave his apartment. He has carers several times per day. It is known that he refuses to wear incontinence pads so the carers have to change his sheets on every visit. It seems they must sometimes put the sheets in the machine with the poo still wrapped in them. This is then found (or not yuck!) by the next resident to use the machine. Photos have been taken for evidence and provided to management on multiple occasions. They claim to have contacted the care agency who say they have passed messages to their carers to ensure it doesn’t happen again. This has now been going on for almost a year. I know that because, as one of the newer residents, the first time I became aware of it I arranged to have my own washing machine delivered and plumbed in. I’m lucky that I have one of the larger apartments to accommodate this. One other resident has done the same but the rest don’t have room for their own washer. Management claim there’s nothing more they can do as they say it would be discriminatory to speak to the resident himself and that he must remain anonymous. We have suggested that the company use their contingency funds, available to any resident in need, to purchase a machine and plumb it in his own apartment for his individual use. This is obviously a health & safety issue for the rest of the residents. Sometimes people forget to check the machine before they use it and find the poo when taking their washing out. Then they have to wash it all over again. We’ve been told when we find it, to label the machine out of order until the cleaner is on duty to disinfect it. We are all insistent that it’s not the resident’s fault. He can’t help what he does and anyway, it’s not him who is putting the offending sheets into the machines. Does anyone have any suggestions of what could be done, or even what can be said to the management? It’s driving us all crazy. We’re sick of the possibility of walking around in clothes that have been washed in poo! Also, isn’t there some kind of health requirement that says soiled laundry can’t be washed in communal washers but must be dealt with by a specialist laundry service? I ask this because we recently had replacement washing machines as the old ones were umpteen years old. The machines were designated ‘heavy domestic’ and ‘not for the use of laundering soiled clothing or bedding’, in other words not for use in care homes. Some residents are wary of the H&S issue as it has been suggested the communal laundry could be closed down if it’s found to be a health hazard in this way.
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