INSTRUMENT STERILISATION AND DECONTAMINATION


Table 1: Current processes for instrument disinfection vs UV-C disinfection.


PER CYCLE Water (Litres) Power (kWh) Gas (kWh) CO2(e) (Kg)


Installation required Logisitics (SSD) Capacity (masks)


WD


144-255 8.17 3.86 3.74 Yes


Transport and 72


AUTOCLAVE 360-760 4.27


46.28 12.13 Yes


Time 35


up new production facilities to manufacture PPE, as well as exploring possible innovative cleaning and reprocessing materials and equipment. These companies and products included the following, but this is not an exhaustive list: n Transparent face masks (Contechs, Alpha Solway, Hello Face, Don & Low, Blue Tree Medical, Polar Seal, LJA Miers, Valmy SAS, and Northwest Medical).


n P3 half-face respirators (Hello Face). n UK-manufactured surgical masks (Blue Tree Medical). n Powered hoods and respirators (CleanAIR). n Improved eye protection (Bollé Safety). n UV-C disinfection and cleaning materials, (Mackwell Electronics, Rollins Consulting, Aqualution, and HOCL), as well as many others responding to the unprecedented challenges.


Work with eye protection and respiratory manufacturers I was working with eye protection and respiratory manufacturers and suppliers to assess reusable products, their fit, form, and function, as well as the cleaning and disinfection for wearers to move from one ward to another without cross-contaminating, and without disposing of devices between wards. The Mackwell Electronics UV-C cabinet, with Bollé Safety eye protection, and the Hello Face respirator, would be the solution, eventually. However, the focus was soon diverted, as Northampton


Left to right: The Mackwell Health Microbox – for low volume use, or 12 or 24 V vehicle use; the UV-C Minibox; the UV-C Tallbox for disinfecting cabled devices and higher-volume reprocessing.


General Hospital NHS Trust, along with others, was experiencing inconsistent and fragmented supplies of single-use anaesthetic masks. The Trust enquired if the Mackwell Electronics UV-C cabinet could disinfect reusable anaesthetic masks, as they are of a similar shape to the respirators, which is true. However, PPE is regulated by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), and anaesthetic masks are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with very different standards and requirements.


UV-C 0.74


0.038 0


0.037 No


On site 6


UV-C BENEFITS


94%-98% reduction >99% reduction 100% reduction >99% reduction


6KG plug and play At point of use


Open to the challenge Mackwell Electronics was open to the challenge, and coincidently the new standard for UV-C disinfection cabinets and disinfecting rooms had just been published, in October 2022, (BS8628-2022). This was the new standard that Mackwell would need to be certified against to be able to reprocess MDs, following a proven cleaning cycle to remove soilage and debris. The cabinet had to be registered as a medical device, and to comply with the recently published Medical Device Regulations (MDR), which replaced the Medical Device Directive (MDD) in 2021. PCC Sustainable Solutions had been involved with innovative disinfection and cleaning solutions through Envirosmart and Rollins Consulting. These included PATHISOL Hypochlorous Disinfectant, and innovative cloths from Decitex in France, with excellent performance over 500 washes, even when laundered through harsh industrial laundries, and non-linting. The integration of these with the Mackwell UV-C cabinet could solve cleaning and disinfection at or near the point of use.


Achieving the testing standards The first step in achieving this, was the to achieve the testing standards for BS8628-20225


certification, which


was undertaken by Test Labs, who Mackwell engaged in late 2023, and following range finder testing to assess the cycle duration required for the toughest organism in the standard, the full test was embarked upon, culminating in certification being achieved in January 2024. It is to date possibly one of the only, if not the only, certified disinfection chamber on the market. Next was the evidence that the process worked on MDs, as testing to a standard only requires inoculated flat stainless-steel discs to be neutralised for the standard to be passed. Therefore, PCC Sustainable Solutions worked with Mackwell, and the Northampton Trust’s Infection


64 Health Estate Journal June 2025


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