Laundry staff at NHS Lanarkshire cleaned up at a recent awards ceremony.
Ten colleagues from the health board’s laundry team became the first in the West of Scotland to successfully complete the Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) level two in Laundry Services.
At a ceremony, held at the West of Scotland Laundry in Wishaw, David Browning, NHS Lanarkshire’s general manager of property and support services, presented the staff with their certificates.
He said: “I’d like to congratulate the 10 graduates of this course for successfully completing their studies.
“It’s important for NHS Lanarkshire to ensure all staff have opportunities to improve their skills, knowledge and qualifications in their specialist area.
“Working in laundry for the health service requires specialist skills and this course provides the opportunity to undertake formal training.
“Hopefully these 10 graduates will be laundry champions who will encourage their colleagues of the benefits of this course.”
Moira Hughes, deputy head of linen services, believes the course will benefit both the staff and NHS Lanarkshire as a whole.
She said: “Well done to all 10 who have completed this course.
“It proved to be an enjoyable experience for those taking part but also of great value to them and to NHS Lanarkshire.
“The course is completed during their working hours and they can proceed at their own pace.
“Learning new skills improves motivation and their confidence was also boosted to know they are doing things the right way.
“They now also have a formal qualification which backs up the skills and experience they have while NHS Lanarkshire has qualified professional staff.”
NHS Lanarkshire has been approved by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) as educational centre.
This enabled this course, which is Scottish Government funded, to be run internally.
Agnes Robb, training manager commissioned programmes, said: “NHS Lanarkshire is the first health board in the West of Scotland to have facilitated this course.
“The opportunity to participate in this nationally recognised qualification provided the laundry staff who generally don’t get a lot of opportunities for study to achieve this national qualification. Well done to all the graduates.”