INSTRUMENT DECONTAMINATION
‘Pay-per-use’ EWD upgrade for Great Western
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has signed up to a pay-per-use scheme with Wassenburg – four of the company’s existing endoscope washer-disinfectors (EWDs) that have given it excellent service are being replaced with five new machines. The latest EWDs not only offer faster cycle times and a more ergonomic design, but the Trust’s Sterile Services Department will now pay based on the number of procedures completed, avoiding upfront capital outlay and depreciation costs. The agreement covers the cost of the EWDs, the associated consumables, and their servicing and maintenance to HTM 01-06 requirements.
Looking to develop a new, standalone decontamination facility in the near future, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust needed an interim replacement for its endoscope washer-disinfectors (EWDs). The busy and relatively small department needed to remain operational, but timely access to capital was constrained, and options were limited. Wassenburg Medical therefore provided the ideal solution. “The original endoscope washer-
disinfectors were installed back in 2008 and, when the satellite department was taken on by Sterile Services in 2011, it was incorporated into our ISO 13485, which enables us to undertake external work for other Trusts and healthcare providers,” Richard Cornish, Operational manager and AP(D) Sterile Services, explained. The Trust already had four Wassenburg EWDs, which had proven reliable, but these were nearing the end of their operational lives. The Trust was looking at relocation and right-sizing, to achieve best practice for the future, but the project would take three to five years for the planning and build.
Need to increase capacity The department needed to remain operational during the interim, while continuing to meet an increasing workload. The Trust’s throughput was in the region of 1,800 to 2,000 endoscopes per month; reprocessing capacity needed to increase, yet the department was restricted by the small space available. Larger kit, or a mix of kit, would have meant multiple contracts,
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Richard Cornish, Operational manager and AP(D) Sterile Services, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
and would not have been cost-effective. “We had insufficient space to
accommodate some of the other manufacturers’ systems and the way they operate – with door openings or separate baskets for the scopes. These issues and the footprint would have caused significant problems for us, requiring extensive building work and the need to move connections,” Richard Cornish continued. Together with Wassenburg, the Trust
considered various options. Looking at the annual throughput and considerations around the expansion, the Wassenburg
The Trust’s throughput was in the region of 1,800 to 2,000 endoscopes per month; reprocessing capacity needed to increase, yet the department was restricted by the small space available. Larger kit, or a mix of kit, would have meant multiple contracts, and would not have been cost-effective
64 Health Estate Journal August 2022
team undertook a costing exercise, comparing the cost of continuing to run the existing equipment versus new machines financed through a pay-per- use scheme. The difference was not significant, particularly when factoring in the increasing risk of service disruption through failed cycles when continuing to run the old machines, and the demands this might make on hospital engineers’ time.
A ‘like-for-like fit’ “Updating to new Wassenburg machines offered a like-for-like fit,” Richard Cornish commented. “There was no difference in the footprint, and their earlier machines had been very reliable. We have moved an end wall slightly to accommodate a fifth machine for future growth. The only other real change has been the power connections, where we’ve changed to plugs with surge protection.” Explaining the financial solution, he added: “As a Trust, we’d looked at pay-
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