Cover story - advertising feature
The importance of training in decontamination
Agilio [formerly Isopharm] discusses how decontamination departments can make CPD the norm and incorporate this into their training policies.
Over a period of thirty years, you would expect an industry to have developed beyond recognition. The introduction of innovative technologies, developments in machinery, implementation of new guidance and industry standards and advances in information technology and communications (IT&C) have all had a significant impact within the decontamination industry, leading to a more robust and safer process for making medical instruments safe to use in surgery, diagnosis, and treatment. It is clear we have made amazing progress to
where we were back in the 1990s, but in other ways, we have not progressed. Running and maintaining a Sterile Services Department or an Endoscopy Decontamination Unit takes vast amounts of financial investment. In addition to the capital costs for washer-disinfectors and sterilisers, departments have to factor in the cost of maintenance, repairs, testing, validation and replacement costs for these machines – which is usually at around 10-years. The list of costs goes on… The next big spend is the cost of raw material
– for sterile barriers, wraps, pouches, chemicals and detergents. There are also costs associated with specialist equipment – for example tables, sinks, trolleys and racking, as well as IT software for tracking and tracing medical devices through the decontamination process to patient use. Constraints on budgets across the NHS
are tight and every penny spent must be carefully considered for any acquisition, but the department cannot function if any of these elements are missing. While all of the aforementioned aspects are critical, no department can function effectively without a competent workforce. Patient safety is at the forefront of the
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decontamination industry, and it is imperative that the process of cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation is fulfilled by professionally trained and competent staff. So how much of the department’s budget is available for their training and professional development? In most circumstances the available budget
for training is either zero or a ridiculously small amount per person when you divide the available funds by the number of staff in the department. One department calculated their staff allocation for training was £30 per person, per year. What meaningful training would be available at that price? Why is there no training budget available for these roles? Historically departments had a budget line for staff training but, over the years, the availability of relevant courses has diminished, meaning funds allocated to training budgets were not utilised, so the budget line was taken
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away or reallocated. This situation was further affected as numerous courses at varying levels have been created, launched, operated for a short period of time but then disbanded. The decontamination industry standards do not provide any structured training requirements, so this vicious loop keeps repeating, leaving department managers struggling to secure funding for training year after year. A key factor which is missing is a structured
career pathway for staff to progress their way through the roles in a department, with some staff members aspiring to become a quality manager or a department manager. Details of the ideal pathway are not stated as part of any of our guidance. It explains the roles required to manage the departments but does not define the experience, education and qualification required to do the role effectively. Succession planning is a hot topic now. Thirty plus years ago, staff progressed through the different levels in the department with a focus of becoming a department manager, with support from the following education: NVQ and TVQ, Decontamination Foundation Qualifications (degree level) and Management Certificates. However, as this was over 30 years ago, staff who did manage to advance their careers through this route are now approaching retirement. This leaves an industry workforce with a limited number of people with the required skills for the roles. Clearly, there is a need for decontamination management qualifications. Current job adverts for this level, today, are requesting that applicants are educated to degree level, with no specification of the subject. Although this level of education provides some relevant skills and shows the recruiter that the person has a strong work ethic, more support is needed as
THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL
DECONTAMINATION & STERILISATION
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