Decontamination issues examined

The Institute of Decontamination Sciences (IDSc) will be hosting its 45th Anniversary IDSc Conference at the Hilton Hotel Blackpool, 26-28 November 2012 – attracting leading experts in the field of decontamination and numerous delegates working across the field of sterile services in the UK. The opening speaker will be John Wilkinson OBE, the director of medical devices at the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA). John Wilkinson joined the MHRA earlier this year and has wide-ranging experience of the medical device technology sectors in Europe, the United States and the UK. His role at the authority is to lead on the safety of medical devices – including reviewing future medical devices regulation. John Wilkinson will speak to members about the role of the MHRA and how it intends to collaborate with the profession on developing both the science and practice of Medical Device Decontamination, to further improve patient safety.

 CfPP: your questions answered

There will also be a session on the newly released Choice Frameworks for Local Policies and Procedures (CFPP 01-01 Part a-e and CfPP 01-06). There will be an expert panel that will answer delegate’s questions on CfPP and provide views from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The programme on Tuesday 27 November will start with the IDSc AGM. All members are encouraged to attend. The morning session will cover how the use of IT systems can enable sterile services to achieve efficiencies and savings. In the current climate, in which healthcare providers are facing immense pressure to achieve significant financial savings, there will be a great deal of interest in how such technology can contribute towards achieving this aim, while improving service delivery. Roger Darlington, regional account manager, Magellan Technology, and Tig Miller, managing director, Fingerprint Medical, will both contribute to a session on using modern tracking systems on loan equipment and introducing new systems into multi-site decontamination units. To complete the day there will be a session on the ‘human error factor’ and its implications for the decontamination process and the staff involved. The afternoon session will start with a presentation on the educational research study surrounding individual expectations and educational needs of decontamination technicians based in the UK, identifying and exploring any perceived barriers. This session will be delivered by Angela Cobbold, pathway/course leader FdSc decontamination science, from Anglia Ruskin University.