Housekeeping Management in Hospitals G. Krishna Veni

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Housekeeping Management in Hospitals

• G. Krishna Veni

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Overview on Housekeeping Department

• Historical Perspective
• Under direction of ward nurse
• The concept of Housekeeping was not clear
• Modern Perspective
• Psychological Impact of patients
• Improved hygienic practices and better sanitary
  conditions have a direct relationship to the post
  operative complications.
• Under direction of Housekeeping department
• Members of HK department are experts in cleaning
  and organizing in house activities

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• The housekeeping departments work has advanced
  rapidly in recent years and requires not only
  knowledge of technical skills but also an
  understanding of the Tools of management

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Principles of management

• Plan, organize, coordinate, control and monitor
  all the housekeeping activities in hand for
  effective utilization of resources

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Housekeeping - Definition

• Housekeeping is defined as the provision of a
  clean, comfortable and safe environment for the
  patients and public in a hospital setup

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• The concept of housekeeping is simplistic
• but
• When one considers maintaining a house of
  several hundreds of rooms and numerous public
  areas, the task becomes gigantic.

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Aims of housekeeping department

• Achieve the maximum efficiency possible in the
  care and comfort of the patients and in the
  smooth running of the hospital.
• Establish a welcoming atmosphere and a courteous,
  reliable service from staff of all departments.
• Ensure a high standard of cleanliness and general
  upkeep in all areas.
• Train, control and supervise the staff of
  housekeeping department.
• Establish a good working relationship with other
  department.
• Ensure that safety and security regulations are
  made known to all staff of the hospital.

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Responsibilities of Housekeeping Department

• Daily cleaning
• Periodic cleaning
• Trash and garbage removal including proper
  hospital waste disposal
• Discharge cleaning
• Exterminating bugs and pests
• Preventing spread of infection
• Safety and security of the hospital
• Creating healing environment
• Gardening
• Interior decoration

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Organization Chart
ADMINISTRATOR
HOUSEKEEPING MANAGER
HOUSEKEEPER
SANITORY WORKER
GARDENAR
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Organizing Housekeeping Department

• Location
• Facility space requirement
• Storage areas (e.g. under staircase)
• Cupboards with locks
• Notice boards
• Management information system
• Registers (attendance, asset,...)
• Forms (Indent, requisitions,)
• Asset list (equipment, materials..)
• Checklist (Quality, Maintenance..)

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Recruitment and staffing

• Tapping the right source
• Interview process
• Selection process
• Grooming
• Personal Hygiene
• Honesty
• Courtesy tact diplomacy

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Orientation

• The organization and brief outline of the
  hospital
• Information regarding condition of service, pay,
  etc.
• Information regarding grooming, hygiene,
  courtesy, safety, security, etc.
• Rules like dress code, hours of work, leave
  policies and procedure, lunch hours, etc.
• Hospital tour
• Observing Equipments and supplies used in the
  housekeeping department
• Observing cleaning procedures done

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Training

• Methods of supervision
• Housekeeping procedures like sweeping, mopping,
  dusting work
• Equipments and supplies, when to use and how to
  use, amount to use and care of the equipment.
  (Attach equip.. usage)
• Refresher training
• During lean periods
• Newer techniques/methods
• Practical training under supervision for quality
  improvement

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Qualities of the housekeeper

• Basic knowledge of health care sanitation
• Ability to plan, administer, and develop all
  phases of a comprehensive housekeeping program
• Ability to assign, supervises, and evaluates the
  work of subordinates
• A pleasant personality
• An interest in people and tact in handling them

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Inter departmental relationship

• Maintenance department (electricity, plumbing,
  carpentry, civil)
• Stores
• Laundry
• Security
• Nursing
• Other departments

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Management Issues

• Effective communication
• Absent of responsible person
• Work Allocation
• Conflicts Management
• Time Management

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Housekeeping practices in key working areas in
hospitals

• Out Patient Department and Clinical area
• Operation Theater
• Ward
• Laboratory
• Office area
• Sanitary area
• Outside area

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Common Housekeeping practices in key working areas

• Systematic cleaning operations Year calendar
• Basic work procedures
• Control of odors, pests, rodent animal control
• Waste disposal methods and procedures
• Safety regulation Accident, fire, electrical
• Care of furniture
• Interior decoration
• Storage procedure for used equipments

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Managing Sanitary Workers

• Workers under housekeepers
• work distribution for male and female workers
• Recruitment and selection procedure
• Nearby areas
• Different areas families
• Physical appearance
• Age mix
• Effective supervision
• Handling the difficult worker
• Effective communication
• Performance evaluation

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Retaining Sanitary Workers

• Nutritious snacks
• Providing free lunch
• Free uniform
• Free medical facilities
• Recreation (tours, movies etc.)
• Sick leave
• Change their shifts if they have any acceptable
  reason
• Help them if they require money for Emergency
• Help them to educate their children
• Bonus for 100 attendance

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Challenges ..

• Routines need to be planned so that they do not
  inconvenience doctors, nurses, visitors
• Cleaning has to be consistent, suitable in
  conjecture with nursing procedures, e.g. bed
  making before vacuum cleaning
• A greater need for flexibility and the ability to
  adjust to interruptions

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• Methods equipment require special attention so
  as to prevent cross - infection
• The noise is of more importance than elsewhere.

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• Greater variation in different work methods and
  standards in different areas, example - operating
  theatres, wards and visitors lounge
• ( standards of cleanliness)
• The need for check cleaning, that is the frequent
  re-doing of cleaning tasks, in heavy use areas
  e.g. Mopping of floors, cleaning of toilets and
  wash basins. (frequency of cleaning)

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Laundry Services

• It is a centralized function coming under the
  housekeeping department taking care of all
  activities from purchase to linen management to
  laundry to condemnation
• Linen Management will vary based on the climate,
  culture, systems and procedure of the individual
  organization

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• Hospital can go for
• Inside laundry services - with adequate
  machineries
• Inside laundry services Manual wash by dhobi
• Outside laundry services On contract basis

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Functions of laundry department

• Collection or receiving soiled and infected linen
• Processing solid linen through laundry equipment.
  This includes sorting, sluicing and disinfecting,
  washing, extracting, drying, conditioning
  ironing, pressing and folding
• Inspection and repair of damaged articles, their
  contamination and replacement
• Distributing finished linen to the respective
  user departments
• Maintenance and control of active and back-up
  inventions and processed linen
• Maintaining all type of registers

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Organizing laundry department

• Manpower requirement
• Duties and responsibilities of linen in -
  charge housekeepers
• Recruitment and selection of dhobi
• Management information system
• Equipments selection, care
• Linen selection, care, stain removal procedure
• Work procedure
• Stain removal procedure
• Management issues

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Tips

• Stock the linen materials in 13 ratio
• Each day the bed sheet is dusted and the side is
  changed when the bed is made. This way both sides
  of the sheet is used. On the third day the bed
  sheet is changed
• Use all faded and damaged fabrics for dusting and
  cleaning windows, furniture etc

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Other housekeeping knowledge

• Innovative and decorative tasks like flower
  arrangements and pot decoration etc.
• Gardening
• Arranging dinner, tea for guests
• Arranging rooms for conferences, meetings
• Functional arrangements

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Conclusion

• The housekeeping department is a
  non-revenue-producing service department in the
  hospital. A poorly run department results in
  money needlessly spent and creates a negative
  impression on patients, visitors and staff, which
  will adversely affect their perception of the
  quality of care provided by the hospital.