Endoscope reprocessing
Advancing education in endoscope decontamination
The Institute of Decontamination Sciences (IDSc), in conjunction with Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), recently hosted a study day on Low Temperature Technology – bringing together leading decontamination experts to discuss the challenges and advances within endoscope and ultrasound probe decontamination. Louise Frampton reports.
Taking place in Cambridge, the Low Temperature Technology Study Day provided an opportunity to explore key areas for improvement, best practice, and future developments in low temperature sterilisation. From new qualifications developed by the IDSc, improvements in ENT scope sterilisation, considerations for ultrasound probe decontamination, to the problem of biofilms in endoscope channels, the sessions offered valuable expert insights into the challenges and opportunities to raise standards in decontamination.
Opening the session was Sam Nichols,
ASP’s National UK Capital Project Manager. He explained that ASP pioneered the research and technology that brought the use of hydrogen peroxide and gas plasma to the market in the 1980s. There are only a small number of low temperature sterilisation systems on the market today, but being an early innovator in the field, ASP has built up a large database of compatible devices – which now totals around 26,000. “It is crucial to future proof the purchase of
these systems. It will be in your department for the next 10 years plus, so it is important to keep an open-minded approach and think about not just what you need to sterilise today, but what potentially you may need to sterilise tomorrow, and in the next five years and beyond,” he advised. Sam gave an overview of some of the
technology advances in low temperature sterilisation, to date, as well as giving a glimpse into the future. Since the company was acquired from Johnson and Johnson, in 2018, by Fortive (a large US-based corporation), ASP has been investing significantly in R&D. Having identified a need in the market to tackle concerns around high contamination rates in duodenoscope devices, it will be unveiling a new solution in the UK, later this year, to address the challenges. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and
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Prevention (CDC) alerted the FDA to a potential association between multi-drug-resistant bacteria and duodenoscopes and there have been a number of well publicised incidents involving these devices – prompting the need for improved reprocessing approaches. ASP has already received FDA clearance in the US for its Ultra GI Cycle, which is designed to reprocess duodenoscopes using hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilisation.
New qualifications The need to provide better education for those tasked with endoscope decontamination was high on the agenda during the Study Day. The IDSc has been working hard to drive improvement in this area and Education Director, Helen Campbell, highlighted the fact that endoscope decontamination staff are currently working without professional qualifications. This is despite the potential risk
to patients. With patient safety at the forefront, IDSc has developed a number of endoscope decontamination qualifications to help ensure consistent standards within the sector. During a thought-provoking session, Helen
asked the delegates lots of questions around current practices and their awareness in relation to endoscope decontamination, challenging the audience to consider some difficult questions. “Currently, we train people for a day, then put them onto cleaning scopes. So, do we need to professionalise? We wouldn’t want a nurse doing an endoscopy procedure on us who hasn’t been trained. Would we want an HCA with us in the room that doesn’t have any training or just local training?,” she questioned. She pointed out that there is the potential for infection from a contaminated medical device that isn’t cleaned well. However, one of the challenges is the fact that we simply do not
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