About the Community Laundry Service

East Lothian Council part-funds this service, and runs it jointly with City of Edinburgh Social Work and Lothian Health staff. The service delivers a supply of single, flat, hospital  sheets to you, weekly or twice weekly, depending on your need. The service collects and bags the sheets, and takes them away to be laundered.  The service only provides sheets, but you can use two at the same time, giving you a top sheet to protect your duvet.

The service is for people who cannot wash and dry sheets, and need their sheets changed often because of a medical condition, for example:

• continence difficulties
• a skin condition
• bedsores
• sweating.

In exceptional circumstances, we can provide this service for children.

Your Community Care Worker will apply to a panel of Social Work and Health staff to get this service for you.  It meets fortnightly to consider applications, but if your application is urgent, we can start the service before the panel meets, and it will consider your application at its next meeting.

We will review your need for the service regularly.  Most people receiving the service have regular contact with a health professional, for example, a GP, health visitor or community nurse.

What you should know

• You must be able to understand how the service operates. Your carer must also understand how it works.
• The Domiciliary Care Team may be able to help you if you (or your carer) cannot change your bed or bag used sheets.  
• If you don’t have adequate laundry facilities in your house, we may be able to help you to find a washing machine and/or dryer.  You may be able to use these yourself, or someone from the Domiciliary Care Service may help.  If this is the case, you may not need the Community Laundry Service.

When will the Council consider arranging the Community Laundry Service for you?

We must be sure that:

• all treatments and management techniques for your physical condition have been tried or are being tried, and
• you (or your carer) have difficulty washing the sheets, and
• the service will help you to stay at home.

There is no charge for this service.

For more information, contact us at:

communitycare@eastlothian.gov.uk