STERILE SERVICES
iM Med Steelco says it ‘provides real choice’ through its ‘extensive range of cutting-edge decontamination equipment’. ‘Real choice’
Choice is the key element across our decontamination portfolio. We provide real choice so that Trusts can have the solutions and services that fit their needs, rather than adapting their needs to fit the solutions. For example, we offer everything recommended in the BSG 2020 guidance. Acting as a virtual department for our customers, we provide the services, training, equipment, and expertise they need, which benefits all those involved with, affected by, and reliant on, decontamination services: staff, management, and patients. iM Med, in partnership with Steelco, provides the widest range of endoscopy and CSSD equipment via the NHS Supply Chain Decontamination Capital Framework, supplying equipment to meet the demands of every decontamination department. The endoscopy range features a choice of EWDs with the options of single-scope or multiscope chambers, available as single or double pass-through door versions, Steelco appreciates that one size does not fit all. iM Med is increasingly seeing departments choosing a solution of a
combination of single and multiscope EWDs to facilitate volume throughput, with the multi-scope washer and the option of a rapid scope reprocess, with the addition of a single scope washer, all operating on a single system and connection method. An example of this is a recent installation by iM Med at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, across three of its endoscopy decontamination departments.
A complete decontamination strategy The Trust is benefiting from a complete decontamination strategy through its partnership with iM Med. “iM Med was already providing the service and maintenance support for us, and its own type tested chemistry to keep the old endoscope washer-disinfectors (EWDs) going,” explains Simon Lambert, UHCW’s Decontamination lead. “The machines had reached the end of their life, and iM Med’s work gave us the breathing space to look at what we required.
“When it took over the service and maintenance contract, iM Med had given a ‘health check’ to each of the old endoscope washer-disinfectors, and the drying and storage cabinets. The cost- saving with iM Med handling the servicing is substantial. The main benefit was the provision and ready availability of a fully trained engineer, who brought in any parts that were required. The chemistry is cost-effective too. We have regular KPI meetings, which are a benefit. It’s good to understand the level of call-outs, and to have a comparison against the previous service supplier. iM Med’s engineer response time is impressive, and its work is of a good standard.”
Described as ‘fast, safe, and user- friendly’, iM Med’s EndoPax endoscope packing system has a low cost per cycle.
46 Health Estate Journal January 2022
Breathing space presented replacement opportunity In the ‘breathing space’, the Trust was looking at a plan to replace the aged endoscope reprocessing equipment at University Hospital, Coventry and considering new options, including centralisation. There was also a desire to invest in endoscopy at the Trust’s Hospital of St Cross, in Rugby. “Working with the Trust’s AE(D), Jim Tinsdeall, we did an evaluation,” Simon Lambert explains. “We wrote a specification, and looked for the equipment to cover it. Chemistry, consumables, and engineering,
and, of course, the quality of the build and reliability, were all important factors. I wasn’t initially aware that iM Med is Steelco’s UK distributor. It’s known that Steelco machines are very reliable and effective. We were able to visit a London hospital to see its Steelco installation, and to talk to the management and users there about their experiences with the equipment.”
Simon Lambert continues: “We chose Steelco because of the equipment’s usability. It’s a user-friendly system, with a one-time connection throughout the process – pre-washing, washing and decontamination, and drying and storage. We felt that one-time handling was the main advantage. The scope goes from the pre-clean connected to a hub straight into the endoscope washer-disinfector, and is then transferred to a drying and storage cabinet using the same connector. The cost of the chemistry was an important factor too.
Considerable choice
“The Steelco offering has a lot of choice with the type of machine. The company offers two and three-scope chamber machines, with the same footprint, so we could achieve more throughput in the fairly limited space we have. We could tailor the selection to suit our requirements, and build in capacity for future-planning.”
The UHCW programme, now completed, includes the installation of Steelco’s automated system to assist manual cleaning, four three-scope endoscope washer-disinfectors, and one two-scope EWD in the main Endoscopy Department, together with five drying and storage cabinets. As the Trust’s theatres have a small footprint, a decision was taken to reposition the department’s endoscope reprocessing into a quality environment within Sterile Services. Both the Endoscopy and Sterile Services Departments have iM Med’s EndoPax vacuum packing system for the dry storage and transportation of reprocessed scopes. Scopes are dried for the necessary three hours before processing in the EndoPax. The EndoPax system does not put pressure on the scope by drawing a strong vacuum. Instead, the air is replaced by a nitrogen/ oxygen mix which prevents microbial growth, holding the scope in stasis. The
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