Click here to download the report in PDF format.

(15/9/08)

The IDSc is currently working with the UK Department of Health, Health Care Commission and other government agencies; to develop a new range of career based educational programmes and qualifications in decontamination.  To assist in the first stages of this activity, we need to have an overview of the number of personnel currently involved in the reprocessing (cleaning, disinfection, sterilization) of medical devices, whether employed in a formal sterile services department, or locally in for example, community health practices, doctors or dentists. 

The questionnaire can be found in the education area of the member’s section.

(22/8/08)

The Institute of Decontamination Sciences is the leading expert professional body representing personnel involved in the reprocessing (decontamination) of reusable surgical instruments within Sterile Service Departments in both the National Health Services (NHS) and independent healthcare sectors.

As such, and in response to the concerns expressed by The Royal College of Surgeons of England (24 April 2008), we would like to confirm our support and commitment to improving standards and practices applied to decontamination services throughout all areas of healthcare delivery.

The NHS is currently supplied with a wide range of instruments for surgical interventions by a number of suppliers, known as a mixed economy. Those suppliers may be ‘In-house’ NHS Sterile Service Departments, part of Private Finance Initiatives, Outsourced services or as part of a joint venture scheme between NHS Hospital Trusts and private sector partnerships (National Decontamination Programme). Additionally, for complex, special procedures ‘loan kits’ of instruments may be provided directly by manufacturers.

Gillian Sills, IDSc College of Fellows said “Whilst we acknowledge there have been some difficulties with the transition of services to private sector partners, the issues faced as a consequence of these transfers have sometimes been based on existing problems not being resolved prior to transfer and a general lack of planning and poor communication.”

Damage to trays wraps, as mentioned on BBC News on 24th April, is an international service-wide issue that is not exclusively limited to the provision of outsourced decontamination services such as super-centres. Dirty or missing instruments are a quality control issue which should be managed out by appropriate accredited training of staff and definition and implementation of an acknowledged career pathway, which sadly, is not always evident within these units.

IDSc will provide whatever expert support and advice is considered necessary to overcome the present difficulties to ensure the provision of safe and efficient decontamination of reusable medical devices (surgical instruments) in support of excellence in safe patient care.

(30/4/08)

The IDSc has been successful in retaining its Investors in People Recognition (IIP).  On Wednesday 12th December 2007, a full day's assessment took place by an IIP Assessor.  Ian Girvan from Investors in People North East spent the day at the IDSc National Chairman's (Martin Williams) office in Darlington.

The assessment process involves interviews with National Officers and

Council Representatives from the East Anglia, Scotland, North West and Yorkshire/Trent branches. Evaluations of the IDSc strategies/ annual business planning process, education, communication and future objectives also took place, in order to assess whether the IDSc meets the current (new) IIP Standards:

1. Developing Strategies to Improve the Performance of the Organization (4 specific indicators).
2. Taking Action to Improve the Performance of the Organization (4 specific indicators).
3. Evaluating the Impact on the Performance of the Organization (2 specific indicators).

Further information about the IIP Standards can be found on www.investorsinpeople.co.uk

The IDSc membership should not underestimate this major achievement, for what is now a second success. The IDSc achieved IIP recognition 2 years ago and to retain it means that we have dramatically improved on all of the aforementioned areas.

Martin Williams would like to thank all those who helped him on the day and took part by speaking with IIP assessor.

(8/1/08)

The Department of Health has released Decontamination HTM 01-01 Decontamination of Reusable Medical Devices Part A - Management and Environment onto it’s Knowledge Information Portal for NHS trusts in England and all UK government departments to download.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Organisationpolicy
/Estatesandfacilitiesmanagement/DH_4118956

The document sets out the managerial framework in which decontamination of reusable medical devices is performed.

Readers are encouraged to read the document in conjunction with HTM 00, which embraces the managerial and operational policies from previous documents and explores risk management issues.

Further ‘supplements’ to HTM 01 are due to follow from the DH. These include documents relating to endoscopy and laboratories decontamination. The first, pertaining to dentistry is due shortly.

All other organizations can purchase electronic copies of core guidance from Barbour Index, 01344 884121 or IHS Technical Indexes 01344 404429.

Hard copies can be purchased from The Stationery Office from mid November.

http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?

The IDSc encourages readers to comment on the document in the ‘Forum’.

(22/10/07)

Geoff Sjogren and Sue Meredith has been confirmed as the new IDSc Director of Technical Support and Editor respectively,

Both will commencement of the roles from the 1st November 2007 and completes the current round of recruitment to the board.

The Board and Council are delighted with the recruitment of two such renowned and well-respected colleagues in the decontamination community.

Both Geoff and Sue are experienced decontamination managers and have been in the industry for a number of years. Sue is returning to the Board after her previous role as Director of Education.

Contact details to follow shortly.

(22/10/07)

Martin Williams, IDSc National Chairman recently attended a conference by the Department of Health in London outlining the latest news on the NHS National Decontamination Programme.

Amongst the speakers was Nigel Tomlinson, Principal Scientific Advisor to the DH, who outlined the current position in regard to decontamination policy in England and the legal framework surrounding decontamination facilities in both the primary care and acute sector.

Wayne Spencer gave a presentation setting out the lessons learnt from the early implementation Super-centres in Leeds and Birmingham and an updated version of the Decontamination Services Agreement (DSA SF4) was announced.

A copy of the conference’s presentations can be found at:

http://deconprogramme.dh.gov.uk/Lists/Presentation%20and%20seminar%20resources/
ReadForm.aspx?ID=27&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fdeconprogramme%2Edh%2Egov%2Euk
%2Fdefault%2Easpx

(2/10/07)

The Health Protection Agency undertakes studies on behalf of the Department of Health (DH) into Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and related prion diseases. Current studies include investigating the prevalence of variant CJD in the UK population (The National Anonymous Tonsil Archive, NATA), the potential for transmission of prions via surgical procedures, the effectiveness of decontamination technologies http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/cjd/menu.htm) and the storage of surgical instruments which have been used in connection with the treatment of patients known to be incubating Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) or deemed to be 'at risk' of incubating CJD. In addition, studies at the HPA Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response are developing simple, sensitive and rapid detection technologies that can be used to assess the effectiveness of decontamination processes on batches of instruments.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) belongs to a small family of related disorders that cause progressive loss of nerve function and are currently invariably fatal. Affected individuals routinely do not exhibit symptoms of the disease for many years following infection. Therefore, during this phase, neither they nor their healthcare providers will know that they are potentially infectious, unless they belong to a known at risk group. As the infectious agent that causes the disease is very stable and not inactivated by methods routinely used to clean and sterilize instruments, there is a small risk that transmission could take place during routine surgery on such individuals, especially where this involves contact with high infectivity tissues such as brain or the central nervous system.

A number of research groups have developed CE marked prion inactivation technologies that could be employed to significantly reduce this risk. As part of one of these studies, the HPA is consulting with Sterile Services Department managers to explore the feasibility of introducing these methods into routine use while minimising disruption and additional cost.

To support the introduction of new decontamination technologies, we have previously forwarded our questionnaire to SSD managers via the IDSc Journal. We are very keen to receive further responses and would appreciate your assistance in this manner. The questionnaire is attached for SSD managers to complete and return electronically or in hard copy.

We hope that you will be able to take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and look forward to your responses. If you have any queries, please contact me. I will be attending the IDSc Conference in Blackpool with my colleague Dr Richard Hesp who will be presenting on our current research.

Please return completed questionnaires by 30 November 2007 to:

Dr Jimmy Walker (DH Neat questionnaire)
Technology Development Group
HPA, CEPR
Porton Down
Salisbury

Click here to download the questionnaire

(2/10/07)

Following the recent election ballot conducted of IDSc Members, Val O'Brien has been elected as the new Vice Chairman of the IDSc.

Val is a renowned figure in the decontamination industry, having worked at governmental level for a number of years. She currently works with Vernon Carus Ltd.  

Val will take up office with effect of August 1st 2007, and will succeed Martin Williams as the next IDSc National Chairman in November 2008. 

Until that time, Val will play an active role within the IDSc as part of the Board of Directors.  Congratulations are expressed to Val on her appointment.

(24/7/07)

The National Decontamination Team have issued a newsletter outlining the latest news on the National Programme.
Subjects covered include:

• The West Yorkshire and Birmingham Supercentres going live
• HR Update
• Technical Revisions to the Decontamination Services Agreement
• Communications with National Bodies

The newsletter can be viewed at:
http://deconprogramme.dh.gov.uk/Lists/Announcements/Attachments
= /27/NDP%20Newsletter%20-%20June%202007.pdf

(25/6/07)

The Department of Health in England has released a policy statement outlining the legislative requirements for decontamination facilities providing services to NHS patients.

The document applies to any decontamination service including local decontamination units in primary care.

For legislative purposes, decontamination services will be divided into two sectors. Those placing on the market, and those producing in-house items only.

For those facilities placing on the market, they must demonstrate MDD compliance and register with the MHRA.

Decontamination services not placing on the market should satisfy the necessary essential requirements of the MDD to ensure they produce a product that is ‘fit for purpose’. The document suggests that these units could consider accreditation to ISO 13485:2003 as a method of demonstrating best practice.

The policy statement is now to be embedded in the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Health Care Associated Infections.

The policy statement can be downloaded from:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications
/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_074722

The essential requirements for the MDD 93/42/EEC can be found at:
http://www.bsi-global.com/upload/Standards%20&%20Publications/Healthcare/
MedicalDevicesDirectiveMDDCouncilDirective9342EEC1992.pdf

(25/6/07)

Eastwood Park has announced the first achievements on a national basis, for their candidates undertaking the level 3 NVQ in Decontamination.

These candidates came from both the NHS and Private Sector and were located across the UK from Shetlands to Plymouth.

All of these candidates were able to achieve within a year thanks to the ‘activity based’ assessment practice designed and delivered by Eastwood Park. This innovative delivery programme drastically reduces the amount of candidate written evidence, and very much focuses on application of knowledge and performance found within their jobs. This practice motivates the candidates and assessors to achieve in an appropriate timescale.

Eastwood Park has nearly 200 registered Decontamination NVQ candidates across the UK who are supported by the Centre’s national delivery team.

City and Guilds has accredited Eastwood Park Centre with ‘Direct Claims Status’ due to the high level of support and practice achieved by the delivery team. This means that the Centre can now certificate candidates on achievement, without having to wait for the bi-annual External Verifier Visit.

For further information on Eastwood Park’s Decontamination NVQ programme then contact:

Claire McCudden on 01454 262816 or by the following email
claire.mccudden@eastwoodpark.co.uk

(5/6/07)

The British Orthopaedic Association has released a position statement in relation to offsite decontamination facilities.

The document highlights a number of key issues the BOA say need addressing when and where sterile services is not available on site. These include the provision of a duplicate set of instruments prior to anaesthesia and the availability of reprocessing dropped instruments by a sterilizer.

You can download the position statement at
http://www.boa.ac.uk/site/showpublications.aspx?ID=59

(23/4/07)

The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) for England has clarified the situation with regard to decontamination and re-use of instruments, especially those used in endodontic (root canal) treatment, in the context of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). It contains revised advice that dentists and decontamination facilities handling dental instrumentation are expected to follow.

The CDO said there had been no cases of transmission, but research had shown a potential risk.
The recommendation is based on guidance from the expert Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC).

Dentists and decontamination services are advised to ensure that:

• Endodontic reamers and files are treated as single use,
• The highest standards of decontamination are observed for all dental instruments,
• Manufacturers’ decontamination instructions are followed for all instruments, and where instruments are difficult to clean, single use instruments should be used wherever possible.

Peter Ward, chief executive of the British Dental Association, said: "Dentists take patient health and safety seriously and will apply this latest guidance robustly.

You can download the letter at
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_074001

(23/4/07)

The North West Sterile Services Partnership has reached financial close with Shiloh, a subsidiary of Synergy Healthcare plc, as its services provider for a new £5million decontamination centre in Manchester.

The new centre is the outcome of the national strategy by the Department of Health and is the second Supercentre project to reach financial close following Bradford/Leeds in June 2006.

Following a Board and Council meeting last week in Birmingham, the Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of 2 new Directors to its Board.

Tom Redfern has been confirmed as the new Director of Finance and Jason Holmes has become the new Director of Technical Support.

Tom has been an senior member of the Institute for a number of years, whilst Jason is currently on secondment with the Department of Health as part of the National Decontamination Strategy.

Martin Williams, IDSC National Chairman said, “I would like to thank everyone for their comments following distribution of the draft document to IDSc Members during October and November 2006”.

The IDSc has been invited to become an official member of the European Association of Medical Device Reprocessors ‘EAMDR’.

In 2006, the IDSc played an active national role in EAMDR meetings with Martin Williams, IDSc National Chairman, attending meetings in France and Germany.

The Code came into force on the 1st October 2006. From this date, Healthcare Organisations to whom the Code applies, now have to demonstrate that ‘effective arrangements for the appropriate decontamination of instruments and other equipment’ are in operation.

Technically there is nothing new in the Code, however the document forms the baseline that Healthcare Organisations will be measured against and failure to observe the Code may lead to the Healthcare Commission placing Organisations on ‘special measures’ and issuing ‘improvement notices’.

The Code supersedes any dates quoted so far for Healthcare Organisations to comply with the necessary technical standards, and applies equally to both the primary and acute sectors.

The IDSc strongly recommends that members ensure the Code has been recognised and assimilated locally in all Healthcare Organisations to whom the Code applies.

New guidance to promote and support use of auto identification (barcoding and similar technologies) to increase patient safety and improve efficiency has been launched by the Department of Health.

The document aims to set out the standardisation of barcodes, dot matrix, RFID and other technologies for accurate track and trace of surgical instruments, equipment and other devices and much better record keeping.

This document has been written in partnership with DH, NPSA, MHRA, CfH and PASA.

It recommends both industry and NHS adopt the GS1 system of coding standards and sets out an action plan that supports both NHS and industry including the introduction of the use of RFID tagging in medical device tracking.

The IDSc suggests anyone who handles medical devices in the UK familiarizes themselves with the GS1 system.

The guidance ‘Coding for Success: Simple technology for Safer Patient Care’ can be downloaded at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/14/30/10/04143010.pdf

An equipment trading website to advertise surplus decontamination equipment to NHS organisations has been launched. This website is available for use by the NHS free of charge, and has been established as part of the National Decontamination Programme.

In order to gain access to the website, users will need to register free of charge on the NHS PaSA website www.pasa.nhs.uk. You will then receive a user name and password enabling you to log on to the trading site located under their Decontamination section.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence ‘NICE’ have issued new guidance on the reduction of transmission of CJD via surgical instrumentation used in high-risk procedures.

The documents highlight a number of key actions for Healthcare Organisations to implement including a list of procedures NICE deem as high- risk.

The IDSc recommends that documents are reviewed by organisations undertaking such procedures.

The guidance can be downloaded via http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/IPG196

Part 'B' is awaited with eagerness. This is an opportunity for the IDSc to influence an important new Mandatory Document. The new document will be forward to members in the coming weeks. Comment instructions will be required to collate any comments. This will incur a strict deadline.