Increased demand for endoscopy services, coupled with heightened awareness of infection prevention, has prompted new standards for washer-disinfectors and a drive to ensure tighter process control during reprocessing. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.
As the NHS shifts its emphasis towards more cost-effective prevention strategies, endoscopy is becoming a vital part of healthcare in the detection of diseases – saving a great deal of money and many lives. A recent study showed that a fiveminute screening test using a “Flexi- Scope” reduced bowel cancer mortality by 43%,1 while research commissioned by the Department of Health2 suggested that such tests could save an average of £28 per every person screened. Not only has there been significant growth in demand,3 driven by a need to reduce the burden of diseases, such as colorectal cancer, but reprocessing services are also undergoing other changes in the way they are both organised and regulated. “Ten years ago, we were installing single machines in small units, such as urology departments for example,” said John Crispin, managing director of Wassenburg Ltd (formerly managing director of Dawmed). “Today, following the lead of sterile services departments, there is a move to centralise endoscope reprocessing.” This has required a substantial increase in investment in scopes, but has also prompted the need for tighter control of the management of these expensive assets. “Centralised departments require very tightly controlled procedures as they are dealing with increased volumes of very expensive diagnostic equipment.
A greater number of consultants are converging on one location, wanting clean scopes, and they are typically impatient – why shouldn’t they be, when they have just prepped a patient? The last thing a patient wants to hear is that their procedure is delayed because the scope isn’t ready,” he continued. “These central units are typically equipped with half a dozen large machines, with a segregated dirty/clean area, and staff are now gowning up as they would in a sterile services department. There is also an increased emphasis on security – not only is it important to ensure scopes are kept in good condition, ready for use, but a cabinet storing ten scopes may contain over a third of a million pounds of capital equipment. In some hospitals, there have been instances where scopes have been stolen almost to order.”
Washer-disinfector specification
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
