Covid Inquiry publishes TSA’s statement demonstrating benefits of working with industry
The commercial laundry industry has enormous potential to help the UK’s response to any future public health crisis, is the message of the statement given by the Textile Services Association (TSA) to the UK government’s Covid 19 inquiry. Despite initial contact being made by the Government, the newly published statement also shows that there are important lessons to learn from how the industry was dismissed during the pandemic of 2020.
The inquiry is a wide ranging examination of the UK’s response to the Covid 19 crisis and is, in part, attempting to identify areas of the response that could be improved during potential future crises. The TSA was requested to provide information on the potential for using reusable personal protective equipment (PPE), the ways the laundry industry helps maintain hygiene in healthcare environments, and how the government of the time failed to fully harness the capabilities of the industry at a critical point.
The statement, which was presented by David Stevens, CEO of TSA, outlines the nature of the TSA’s work in supporting the laundry industry as well as the importance of commercial laundries to the UK’s economy and institutions like the NHS. It considered the situation before the pandemic, as well as how that relationship evolved as the crisis unfolded.
The statement’s key message highlights the lack of a joined up, centralised approach to creating a specification for reusable surgical gowns and other PPE. If this had been in place it could have eliminated, or at minimum significantly reduced the need for disposable PPE products.
Data showing the commercial benefits in 2021 demonstrated savings of £1.2 billion a year of reusable over single use gowns, which in real terms would be much higher due to the inflationary pressures being exerted on the supply chains of single use products during 2020.
Many commercial laundries already provide services to the NHS as well as private health, social care and other care based industries, and are set up to meet the high standards of hygiene these sectors require as well as meet demand. The commercial laundry industry currently processes and delivers up to 75 million pieces a week and at the peak of the pandemic, the demand for gowns would have been 3 million per week.
While the Covid 19 pandemic was an unprecedented challenge to the UK, it did reveal potential improvements that could be made for infrastructure and support to ensure that the response to future events is smoother and more efficient, and the TSA’s statement clearly shows that opportunities were missed by the government at the time.
“The commercial laundry sector is vital to the smooth running of the NHS and has been for many years,” says David. “We need to learn from the events of 2020, to ensure that the responses are lead by evidence and make full use of the capabilities of the UK’s commercial laundry sector,”
“Our statement to the inquiry demonstrates that our industry has the capability to ensure that PPE can be reused, helping to create a more resilient system during times of crisis – and saving hundreds of millions pounds worth of public money, as well as reducing carbon emissions. We could be “pandemic ready” in a matter of weeks should the need arise again”
The TSA alongside their members, are willing to drive the expansion of the existing reusable gown solution forward with the right support and commitment as it will not only assist the UK in being pandemic ready by solving supply issues for healthcare frontline workers on a long-term basis, but it will also deliver environmental and commercial benefits.
The TSA statement was made as part of Module 5 of the inquiry, which related to issues surrounding procurement. It can be read in full on the inquiry’s website.
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