University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust chief executive cuts ribbon on £7million refurbished laundry at Chichester hospital

The service has undergone a £7million refit, making it the most up to date hospital laundry in the NHS.

It can provide a faster, greener, and more efficient service for St Richard’s, Southlands and Worthing hospitals.

Speaking at the opening, Dr Findlay paid tribute to members of the laundry team, who worked at other sites around the region to maintain the Trust’s laundry service during the refurbishment.

He said, “We know the significant impact the laundry can have for our patients, for our staff and for our community.

“I’m proud that one of the first decisions we made, in coming together as a Trust, was to invest in the infrastructure to support the work of our staff and make it more sustainable.

“It is good to be able to reward the dedication of staff with facilities like this one. I would like to say a huge thank you for all you have done and continue to do.”

The new equipment will help meet the environmental goals of the Trust’s Patient First, Planet First green plan. The refurbished laundry can process more items using less power, water, chemicals and plastics. The laundry team have introduced washable canvas covers that have reduced single use plastics by 60 per cent, with plans to remove them from the process completely next year.

The laundry gets all its water from a bore hole on site, reducing the hospital’s demand for mains water. The new equipment also allows water from different stages of the laundry process to be reused safely and cleanly, further improving the environmental efficiency of the service.

Thanks to the facility’s increased capacity, the laundry services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital will also be brought in house. This will further reduce the carbon footprint of the service across the Trust and save public money.

The laundry will be growing its team in the new year to help manage this increased service. Twenty-five new jobs will be available within the local economy in Chichester.

Richard Knowles, the laundry and transport manager for the Trust said, “I would encourage anyone to come and join our laundry team. This refurbishment has made major improvements to the laundry as a workplace.

“We’ve always had a dedicated and cheerful team. Now we have a positive and modern environment to go along with it.”