Hato Hone St John has updated its approach to stretcher linen use under its Patient Transfer Services (PTS).
Previously, PTS officers made up stretchers with fresh linen for every use, bringing clean linen into the hospital and transferring patients from their existing linen onto the freshly prepared stretcher.
Under the new approach for interfacility transfers, patients will remain on their existing linen. This change reduces operational costs and significantly lowers the volume of linen requiring laundering, supporting more environmentally sustainable practices.
This update applies only to PTS interfacility transfers. It does not apply to emergency ambulance services, where patients are typically collected from the community and do not have existing clinical linen.
Attributable to Debra Larsen, Hato Hone St John General Manager – Health Services