Quality of Laundry and Linen Service in Public and Private Hospitals

Abstract

significant for achieving healthcare and patient satisfaction in tertiary level public and private hospitals. In the hospital, used linen harbor large number of potentially pathogenic microorganisms which may cause many infections. This lead to lengthen patient's hospital stay and aggravate cost of treatment which may result patient dissatisfaction. In Bangladesh, there is no linen related policy, therefore, this study tried to assess the quality of laundry and linen services in both public and private hospitals in Bangladesh Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among purposively selected 251 service providers (151 from public hospital and 100 from private hospital) and 117 service receivers (60 from public hospital and 57 from private hospital) from one public hospital namely Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH), and from one private hospital namely Rahat Anower Hospital in Barishal district, Bangladesh from January to December 2019. In addition, 64 (34 from public hospital and 30 from private hospital) swab samples were selected purposively for microbiological test. Data was collected through two questionnaires and a checklist. Data processing and analysis were done using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) version 23. Results: It was found that laundry department was not in the ground floor in private hospital like public hospital. On the other hand, color coded bag was used for collection of infected and non-infected clothes only in private hospital. Both public and private hospitals did not use separate compartment of the trolley for carrying the dirty linen. Maximum 73.68% of service receivers from private hospital were satisfied compared to public hospital (38.3%) regarding cleanliness of linen. Furthermore, the majority of service providers in both government and non-government hospitals had no history of influenza vaccination, and the majority of them were not trained in linen services. Public hospital’s swab sample show the higher microbiological growth 19 (56%) than private hospital’s sample 10 (33%). Conclusion: Due to the poor quality of linen services, both public and private hospital service providers and recipients are at risk of being infected by many diseases spread by linen.