A new care development has just been completed in a quiet residential area of Banbury, close to the town Centre.  The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) – a not for profit charity – has worked in partnership with bpha (Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association) to launch both the Larkrise Care Centre and Orchard Meadows extra care scheme.

Larkrise is a 60-bedded, state of the art care home which can cater for long or short stays, respite, day care and also trial visits.  Orchard Meadows is an extra care scheme with 40 one and two bedroom apartments. Apartments are available to rent or for shared ownership for residents over 55. 

Both facilities have been  designed and built to the highest standard, with people’s changing care needs being kept in mind yet with the most ordinary and unassuming homely touches to ensure they feel like ‘home’.

Using the latest technology in these buildings has been paramount, from residents’ safety with sensor pads on beds and bathroom lights coming on in advance of entering through to the latest washer-extractor technology in the on-premise laundry.

An on-site laundry was deemed to be more economical than using a commercial service, and having it in-house means that OSJCT has more control and can provide higher-quality services to residents.

When deciding on laundry equipment, Rick Solomon from OSJCT who was responsible for selecting equipment for the main laundry in Larkrise, as well as the two smaller self-service laundries in Orchard Meadows, said “We needed to find machines which were efficient in terms of running costs, but also technologically capable of handling an array of items from residents' clothes, towels and linens. Miele ticked all the boxes for us.”

High-Extract Washer-Extractors

The 60-bed Larkrise property generates around 8 loads of laundry each day.  To handle the substantial workload, two PW6131 13kg Miele washer-extractors & two PT8337 tumble dryers were installed.  These washer-extractors have internal suspension systems that extract at speeds of 400 G-force and spin at 1100rpm thereby “removing a considerable amount of the water from fabric,” according to Mark Young, Miele’s National Account Manager who worked with OSJCT on their laundry requirements.

This in turn significantly reduces the running costs as the amount of drying time is substantially reduced.

As well as the large drum size, it was also down to the intelligent Miele’s Profitronic M controls that made this machine suitable for Larkrise. Profitronic M controls offer 199 programme slots; each machine comes fitted with standard programme packages for optimum efficiency whilst you have the flexibility of the remaining slots to be freely programmed. All wash and drying programmes are visible in the graphic display.

Miele’s ‘Little Giants’ – Perfect for Independent Use

Miele's Little Giants range were the perfect solution for the independent living extra care scheme, Orchard Meadows.  Wanting to provide residents with the opportunity to retain their independence, two self-service laundries were installed featuring 5 x PW6065 Miele 6.5kg washer extractors, 2 x PT7135C Miele 6.5kg condenser dryers and 3 x PT7136 Miele 6.5kg vented dryers.

These machines are not only easy to operate, hence why they were selected, but they are also suitable for all types of laundry, and the short programme times means these efficient machines have resident’s laundry done in no time.

Latest Technology

The PW 6065 washer-extractor benefits from Miele’s unique patented Honeycomb drum which enables the laundry to glide on a thin film of water and affords it unparalleled levels of protection, extending the life of garments and linen.  With spin speeds of up to 1400 rpm and a G-factor of 526, water extraction is very efficient, so laundry can be dried quickly and efficiently in the matching tumble dryer afterwards. 

The washers are complemented by the 6.5 kg capacity PT 7135C and PT 7136 tumble dryers which also have the Honeycomb drum to ensure fast, gentle and energy efficient drying.  The reverse drum action gives tangle-free results, while the electronic sensor controlled drying eliminates operator guesswork.

Easy To Use

The Little Giants are designed with efficiency and economy in mind.  The controls offer a selection of languages, making them extremely easy for people to operate.  The fast programmes mean that more cycles can be run each day, reducing the amount of people waiting for a machine.  Low consumption levels keep operating costs to a minimum as well.

“We are so pleased to have the Miele brand in our care home” said OSJCT Area Operations Manager Elaine Ratcliffe. “The running costs are substantially lower than we were anticipating and the residents in Orchard Meadows are particularly pleased with how easy the machines are to use.”

“The combination of Miele machines together with the other cutting edge technology installed throughout these state of the art care homes makes for a partnership that is, quite simply, second to none.” Elaine concluded.

For further information on Miele Professional products, please visit www.miele-professional.co.uk or telephone 0844 893 0761.