FEATURE ARTICLES

Homeless and insecurely housed people in Hastings now have access to medical treatment and support, thanks to an innovative digital healthcare outreach project.

The Central Sterilising Club Annual Scientific Meeting provided an excellent learning opportunity for all those involved in decontamination. With a focus on extending knowledge and improving practice, this year’s event was yet another success.

One of the many benchmarks by which the NHS – and the public it serves – measures the effectiveness of the service is how long a patient has to wait in a queue. Kate Woodhead RGN DMS asserts that diagnostic services are a key element of this as, at this stage, the patient often doesn’t know if they are unwell or just has a collection of annoying or worrying symptoms.

In healthcare, cyber security is critical. Ram Vaidhyanathan, IT security and cyber risk analyst, ManageEngine, explores the impact of cyber threats on the healthcare industry and shares his tips for better protection.

Penny Pinnock, sales manager – healthcare & public sector, for Siemens Financial Services in the UK, examines how asset finance can support the upgrade of radiology and diagnostic technology in a growing private healthcare market.

Following the installation of Olympus Medical Systems’ Endoalpha 4K integrated operating theatre, surgeons at University Hospital Ayr undertaking laparoscopic surgery can now operate with enhanced visibility, and stream live images of surgery for training – both within the hospital and to locations worldwide.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the theme for this year’s EBME (Electronic and biomedical engineering) conference and exhibition was how the latest healthcare technology can improve patient outcomes. Over two days, a broad range of speakers shared fascinating insight into the future of healthcare.

The NHS wants to be the safest healthcare system in the world – that is its stated aim. As we wait to hear the results of a public consultation 1 with a strategy designed to sit alongside the NHS Long Term Plan, Kate Woodhead RGN DMS, analyses the challenges facing the patient safety movement.

There is a raft of guidance around best practice in endoscope reprocessing, yet the transmission of infection continues to present a serious issue, prompting the FDA to take decisive action. So, what can be done to help tackle the problem?

Since moving to iM-Med there are no worries over equipment and performance in the endoscope reprocessing units at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Cleaning is critical for sterilisation to be effective; this has been well proven and does not require further evidencing. However, warns Pawel de Sternberg Stojalowski, founder and managing director at decontamination specialist Aseptium, the complexity of the cleaning process itself, measuring the effectiveness and the quality of cleaning is quite another matter.

While hospital Trusts want to save money on chemistries, this must be balanced with ensuring efficacy and patient safety at all times. With cheap chemistries entering the market, is it time for a national register to ensure clarity around performance? Moreover, how could new technologies help optimise decontamination chemistries and provide a tool for improvement? Matthew Peskett, from Ruhof, speaks to CSJabout recent trends and controversies.

Jim Brown, sales manager, Westfield Medical, Hospital UK sector, examines the requirement to inhibit hydrophobic proteins from adhering to surgical instruments and to reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections.

Richard Bancroft, B.Sc (Hons), science and technical director at Steris Corporation explores ISO 15883-4 and its implications for endoscope washer-disinfectors.

Managing a testing schedule for a busy endoscopy or sterile-services department can be a challenging task for hospital staff.

A Europe-wide initiative to protect patients and public health from falsified or fake medical devices and medicines went live on Saturday 9 February 2019, making the medicines supply chain across Europe safer than ever before.

Dr Andrew Kemp JP PhD, reader in biology, head of Scientific Advisory Group BICSc, discusses new evidence that suggests alcohol gels could be causing more harm than we thought.

Decontamination of reusable medical devices including ultrasound probes is important to prevent infection transmission. The number of ultrasound procedures is rapidly increasing and, according to Jon Burdach, PhD, head of clinical affairs at Nanosonics, the need to keep up-to-date on decontamination requirements may be challenging for some ultrasound users.

Dennis Fitzpatrick, University of West London; Andrew Barton, Frimley Park Hospital, and Keith Pamment, City University, London, discuss a port location device that has been designed to improve first attempt port access, and to minimise the risk of subcutaneous infection andpain that a patient experiences with subsequent needle insertion attempts.

Hair loss is a well-known side effect of many chemotherapy regimens, with many patients claiming it is the most traumatic aspect of their treatment. Now, the world’s first scalp cooling research centre is committed to achieving its vision of ‘zero hair loss’ during chemotherapy.