Britain’s first testing laboratory to be UKAS accredited for endoscope surrogate device analysis has reported arise in the number of NHS Trusts commissioning services related to the CFPP 01-06 endoscopy compliance standard.
Theatre and Endoscopy Service Technicians (TEST) – which also monitors water quality each week on many NHS Trust sites – has outgrown its facility at Keele University in Staffordshire, requiring a move to larger premises in Stoke-on-Trent, and the recruitment of additional staff to cope with demand.
Andy Lawton, MIHEEM, is managing director and authorising engineer (Decontamination) at the company and is an expert on washer-disinfectors and decontamination equipment. He strongly believes that independently verified efficacy testing in endoscopy is essential. “I think NHS Trusts are more comfortable with the idea of asking an independent lab to test and validate their washer-disinfectors than the manufacturers themselves. There are a large number of increasingly sophisticated machines installed in the UK and an independent assessment enables the Trusts to put a tick into the ‘impartial and objective’ box.
“At the same time, endoscopy has come of age as a frontline diagnostic technology. Massive investment is going into acute hospitals, new decontamination departments are being created and Trusts are moving from old machines to the latest pass-through systems.
“There are also many hospitals in the transition between HTM 2030 and CFPP 01-06 who are asking for comparison studies and advice and the result of all of these factors is that the lab has never been busier.”
