Washrooms A safe care home washroom


Using the washroom independently is key to the dignity of a care home resident, but toilets and bathrooms can be confusing, even hazardous environments. Gina Court, hygiene advisor at Tork manufacturer Essity, looks at ways of equipping the care home washroom to help protect residents’ privacy while also maintaining their dignity and keeping them safe


Washrooms and bathrooms are an integral feature of everyone’s daily life. Besides their obvious function, these rooms are the places where we go to clean up and where we practise good hand hygiene to protect ourselves – and others – from infections. So, for that reason, washrooms play a particularly crucial role in the care home, where unchecked infections could quickly run rife whenever cleanliness and hygiene have been compromised. However, a typical bathroom can be a bewildering, even frightening place for an elderly care home resident. A combination of bright lights, glaring white surfaces, noisy extractor fans, and multiple mirrors will potentially have the power to confuse and disorientate.


Plus, bathrooms and washrooms can also be physically dangerous environments. The smooth, shiny floors typically found in a washroom will quickly become a slipping hazard when they are wet, while the hard porcelain fittings will be unforgiving if a fall occurs.


A minefield for the vulnerable Most of us use the bathroom without a second thought, but it is a sad fact that our everyday ablutions become more difficult to execute as we start to age. A certain degree of dexterity and ease of movement is required when using the loo, and people with mobility issues, impaired vision, or joint conditions will find it harder to access and use those everyday bathroom fixtures than the younger population. Getting into and out of a bath or


shower can be a huge undertaking for the less mobile, for example, while a fall in a slippery shower cubicle could prove fatal


– particularly if the outer door were to be locked at the time and the resident’s cries for help were to go unheard. Hot water, too, can represent a major risk to an elderly person who may not be able to climb out of an overheated bathtub quickly enough to avoid a scalding. So, washrooms are a minefield for


the vulnerable, who could all too easily slip and fall, scald themselves, or become disorientated by the noise and glare. Specialist bathroom equipment is


often provided in care homes to aid those residents who require a little extra help. A ceiling hoist might be needed in some facilities, for example, to enable a carer to lift and position the resident in the bath. Residents who are able to bathe


themselves independently might still benefit from a walk-in bath or shower, or even a powered transfer seat that enables


Washrooms are a minefield for the vulnerable, who could all too easily slip and fall, scald themselves, or become disorientated by the noise and glare


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them to position themselves in the bath without assistance. And strategically positioned grab rails and non-slip flooring will help to prevent slips and falls for everyone. But no two care home residents are the same, and the needs of individuals will inevitably differ. Some people might find the specialist hoist equipment supplied in certain care home bathrooms to appear overly clinical and alarming, preferring a more ‘home from home’ ambience. These residents might feel more comfortable in a washroom that comes equipped with the types of items they are familiar with using at home, such as conventional toilet rolls and fluffy towels.


But the care home will have to weigh up a wide range of considerations before equipping its washrooms and bathrooms. In an age where cost-cutting is important, and where staff shortages are endemic, it is essential that budgets are considered at every turn and that costs are kept down wherever possible. This means that any consumables purchased, such as soap, hand towels and toilet tissue, should be


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com May 2023


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