Plowman and Partners
What they needed: A professional washing machine to wash clinical clothes and reusable PPE at the dental practice. They had previously been using a normal domestic washing machine for this but this no longer met their needs as new guidelines for washing clinical clothes were brought in by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Product purchased: Miele Little Giants Washing Machine
How Miele helped: The client was given pre-sales advice to make sure they were choosing an appliance with the right specifications for their requirements. The client originally approached Miele’s partner Eschmann with a specific unit in mind, but due to building restrictions on site, that particular unit was not suitable. With advice from Miele, Eschmann recommended an alternative model which not only met the client’s requirements but was also more suitable for their site.
Julian Moise, Eschmann’s regional commercial manager, said there had been an increase in enquiries about washing machines and tumble dryers from customers in the dental industry due to the new regulations.
He said: “There is increased interest in ensuring that dental clinics have a commercial validated washing machine to launder their aprons and uniforms. Up until now a lot of the washers being used have been domestic ones but more and more customers are beginning to see the benefits associated with having a commercial unit, one of which is not having to replace the unit every few years, due to it not being able to cope with the high usage.
“Plowman and Partners are ahead of the curve, their investment of washing on site with a dedicated washer, specific for this type of use and complying with the guidance will give them the confidence and peace of mind that their uniforms have been laundered correctly.”
The machine was delivered and installed on site and staff were given advice on use.
What the client said:
Jack Mirza, a partner at Plowman and Partners, said: “We have clinical clothes like tunics and we would wash them on site using a domestic washing machine. But then the pandemic came along and that changed everything. There were new CQC guidelines about what clothes you could wear in and out of work and how you should wash them.
“A domestic washing machine doesn’t really comply with the guidelines so we needed to look at an alternative. Many other dental practices get their staff to take their clothes home in a sealed bag where they wash them themselves. This didn’t seem acceptable to me as staff would just be using a normal washing machine.
“I wanted to take away the stress of staff having to wash their own clothes. I did my own research into which washing machines followed the guidelines looking at aspects like the water temperature and how the water is released. The Miele product was the best option and the purchasing process was really simple and straightforward.
“We use a lot of Eschmann products at the practice so knowing Miele is a partner of Eschmann gave me confidence in the brand. Since the Little Giants was installed, it has been in almost constant use and it works perfectly. We use reusable, washable PPE instead of plastic, disposable items to reduce the environmental impact so the washing machine is ideal.”
