James Marston, Trainer and Inspector at BICSc, reports.
Over the last 5 years, especially post pandemic, care homes have been kept front and centre in the eyes of facility management. Healthcare environments in this sector, have had to very quickly implement new standards of cleanliness, new budget demands, and deal with new transparency assurance reforms within an ever-growing list of regulations. Care homes of a larger size, such as national organisations, may have more resources (and budgets) available to be able to meet the plethora of demands for these regulations. Smaller, private care homes and groups may face greater challenges in not only complying but also understanding just what they need to do to remain compliant.
It wouldn’t be a BICSc article if we didn’t speak of the standards of cleaning and training that are referenced within the regulations that relate to these spaces. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and the Quality Care Commission (CQC), who are the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, state care home buildings and equipment must be clean, safe, secure, and properly maintained. Equipment used must be suitable, available, and comfortable for residents. This describes one of the fundamental standards care homes in the UK must achieve to remain registered with the CQC and continue to care for its residents. Other fundamental standards include person centred care, dignity, and respect (Ref cqc.org.uk).
Drilling further into Regulation 15 (1) (a) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Regulations, care homes must be kept clean using appropriate methods, have a cleaning schedule appropriate to care and treatment being given, monitor cleanliness, act on any shortfalls and provide training for cleaning staff. The National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025 (NHS England) set out these methods including effective cleaning, infection prevention and control. These measures are not to be underestimated, after all, “all those involved in providing healthcare cleaning services should work towards high quality, safe cleaning services that meet the needs and expectations of patients, staff and the public, to contribute to the overall patient experience and to high quality patient-centred care” (NHS England). Cleaning teams need specialist training to be proven in compliant methods and results. Unsurprisingly, smaller providers, of which there are many, are finding this challenging, but all is not lost!
Over the last few years BICSc has been working increasingly with care homes providing both accredited training and business support services for example, cleaning Inspections, reviews and implementation of cleaning frequency and productivity, specification writing and equipment reviews. Care requires cleaning teams to undertake specialist training and become practitioners in compliant methods and results.
BICSc Cleaning Professional’s Skills Suite (CPSS) portfolio provides a set of skills and procedures essential in cleaning the built environment. Many care homes and hospital trusts have taken advantage of these procedures whether in the healthcare version or standard CPSS. Candidates who succeed demonstrate a good level of competency and compliance to the relevant Standard Operating Procedure. Staff gain recognition for their knowledge and ability. Formal assessment of each skill to BICSc standards assures employers or those responsible that training has been successful and the workforce can work to required standards. These recognised accreditations provide the necessary evidence for any future external inspection or audit. The results will speak for themselves.
Candidates often state they have many years’ experience in cleaning when attending courses. I often find when they achieve their award, they acknowledge gaps in their knowledge and how important working systematically is. The Licence to Practice is the first qualification and is a prerequisite to the rest of CPSS. It encompasses:
- The correct storage of equipment and materials
- Safe assembly and care of equipment
- Chemical competence
Candidates can then complete the skills identified in their job role using their knowledge and the standard to achieve the best technics and results on the surfaces they clean. The BICSc skills offered range anywhere from damp wiping, through to the safe removal of bodily fluids and sharps. A successful candidate will a have good understanding of cross contamination in storage areas/cleaning cupboards, their place of work and clean safely with equipment and chemical solutions.
Healthcare ratings and standards are now part of working lives. Every employee either caring or in support of care needs the right specialist training solutions to remain productive, keep safe and make a difference.
Training is a necessity in healthcare cleaning. It should no longer be considered an investment.
Upskilling your cleaning teams helps care homes meet Regulation 15 standards and underpin journeys towards an outstanding rating and a safer environment.
Everybody will win, especially the residents!
https://www.bics.org.uk/
About the contributor
James Marston
Trainer and Inspector
BICSc