Surgical scrubs and clean towels are in short supply at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after an asbestos incident in the laundry room.
Staff have been told to don scrubs only in “appropriate” areas such as operating theatres and use paper wipes to mop up spills instead of towels.
Meanwhile, bed linen is only being changed “when needed” as laundry staff fight to keep their pivotal service running.
In a sign of how acute the issue has become, ARI has been sent scrubs from Dundee to cover any shortfalls. External laundries and other NHS boards have been roped in to wash uniforms and linen.
Despite the issues, NHS Grampian said operations at the hospital were not affected.
“There’s no shortage putting any surgery at risk,” a spokesman said.
However, the laundry room problems are set to rumble on, according to NHS Grampian chief executive Caroline Hiscox.
Speaking to staff yesterday, Prof Hiscox said it will be at least another two weeks before the ARI laundry returns to full capacity.
“I know there’s been a number of hurdles and I’m sure there will be a few more hurdles before we get back to normal,” she said.
What has caused the laundry room issues?
The problems started last week when a beam in the laundry room moved during the installation of a hydraulic press.
This led to an “isolated asbestos incident”, NHS Grampian said.
Some staff and contractors were in the unit at the time.
“I’ve been advised it’s going to be a couple of weeks before we get things back to normal so my continued thanks for your commitment,” Prof Hiscox said in a YouTube message to laundry staff.
Speaking to the P&J last week, a laundry room worker said 150 cages of washing were backed up in the wake of the asbestos incident.
“There is a major incident, because there is now not enough clean laundry to put out – and that will have a knock-on effect on the wards,” the worker said.
A spokesperson for NHS Grampian contested the laundry worker’s viewpoint.
“The room has been isolated and no laundry products have been affected,” the spokesperson said.
How big is the laundry room at ARI?
The laundry room on the Foresterhill campus at ARI is one of the biggest laundries in the north-east of Scotland.
In a behind-the-scenes look at the facility last year, the P&J was told staff launder about 49,000 pieces of bed linen and 37,000 towels each week.