The world’s most famous old soldiers have revealed their secret weapon in the war against superbugs. The Chelsea Pensioners’ clothing and bedding is being cleaned with a wash process which uses the powerful natural disinfectant ozone to help ensure the Men in Scarlet do not contract infections like Clostridium difficile and MRSA.
The pensioners’ home – the Royal Hospital Chelsea – has opted for a revolutionary laundry system which recreates the thunderstorm effect and injects ozone into wash cycles to disinfect contaminated laundry.
Royal Hospital Chelsea Matron Karen Smith said: ‘We are well aware that infection can be spread on soiled sheets and clothing and in common with other health and social care facilities have to deal with the so-called super-bugs, MRSA and C. difficile. Older people are particularly vulnerable and the new laundry system gives us considerable peace of mind. ‘We are confident that the system is playing a major role in the prevention of cross contamination at the hospital.’
Around 300 Chelsea Pensioners are resident at the hospital. The hospital’s investment in the OTEX laundry system follows a series of high-profile outbreaks of C. diff and MRSA in NHS hospitals throughout the UK.
OTEX differs radically from the conventional high temperature thermal disinfection wash processes still used in most hospitals and care homes throughout the UK in that it uses mostly cold water and kills bacteria, viruses and superbugs on all wash cycles.
All of the Chelsea Pensioners’ personal clothing and bedding is now processed by the OTEX system. The only exception is their famous red tunics, which have to be dry cleaned.