Residents at a Whittlesea aged-care home have been going without clean clothes for up to five days because their washing is allegedly coming back shrunken and discoloured because of oursourcing of laundry services.
The daughter of one of the female residents, who didn’t want to be named, said families and residents of TLC Aged Care Sunlight in Laurel Street were given no warning about the introduction of the new laundry system on July 1.
Almost immediately, she noticed problems.
“Clothes were coming back shrunken and discoloured,” she said.
“We were told there were teething problems, but I asked them to stop sending my mother’s clothes out and started taking them home and washing them myself.
“The washing used to be done daily, but now it’s collected only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and returned on Wednesday and Friday.
“I now have to make sure my mother has clothing to last from Friday to Wednesday.’’
Concerned families have formed a support group and will meet again this week.
“We’re hopeful of a positive resolution. It can’t go on like this,” the woman said.
Similar claims have been raised in relation to TLC’s Marina Aged Care in Altona North, where some elderly residents were left with soiled clothing for days and without heating for a fortnight, after the outsourcing of laundry and maintenance services.
TLC Aged Care did not respond to questions about the Sunlight claims. But on the situation at Marina, TLC Aged Care chief operating officer Neville Watson has previously told Star Weekly there were initial “implementation problems” as a result of the changes, but he was confident these had been resolved.
Mr Watson said laundry services were outsourced to “ensure cleanliness, efficiency and infection control that only a specialist laundry and cleaning service can provide”.
“We have worked closely with our suppliers, residents and their families to address any issues that arose,” he said.
