Thought leadership He reported that the UK decontamination
sector shares similar challenges with its International counterparts: “Decontamination remains a hidden profession. I don’t think people really understand what it is, and we need to address this,” said Dean. There is also a need for greater investment in education. The IDSc continues to raise awareness, provide support, and promote opportunities for professional development, but he believes that there also needs to be better investment from governments and healthcare systems – both in the UK and in other countries. “I remember my first day in the NHS… I didn’t have a clue what decontamination was,” Dean commented. “We need to get people to understand the importance of decontamination and the role it plays overall in delivering safe patient care. It is certainly underfunded and undervalued. “With regards to underfunding, there are things we could do around education. It’s very difficult, certainly for NHS Trusts, to get funding to put people through the Technical Certificate, or even to a degree level. We need to promote the importance and the value of education in the sector.”
Dean is also focused on getting recognition for the important work that the sector undertakes: “As medical devices become more complex, there is a lot of science behind decontamination. Through the Academy for Healthcare Science, the profession is now part of the Healthcare Sciences Framework, which we really need to promote.” IDSc also launched the Endoscopy Technical Certificate, at the end of 2025, which has had a great initial take up: “People have been crying out for endoscopy training for many years, so this is a really positive step forward,” Dean asserted. He added that IDSc now has a Level 6 health science practitioner apprenticeship, which is the equivalent of a BSc: “We are working with a university partner to expand education provision and building on the professional pathway by offering degree level and apprenticeship education,” he revealed.
Promoting education at Congress By working closely with decision makers on key sector programmes – with influence at national and international levels – IDSc has access to some of the top industry experts who can share insights into the most important developments affecting the sector. Planning has started for the next annual
Congress, after a fantastic line up of speakers at the 2025 event: “We are really excited to move the event to Brighton, this year, although
we’ve had some great years in Birmingham. We will be unveiling some amazing content, early in the year, so that delegates can plan ahead and secure funding. We can promise them some really topical insights and discussion,” he commented. “Following feedback, we have also changed the name from ‘conference’ to ‘congress’, which has helped delegates secure funding to attend.” The terminology matters, as it signals
to senior managers that this is a formal, educational assembly, organised by a professional association, where delegates gather to discuss and make decisions on important issues or policies – with input from government figures, policymakers, and experts in the field. “In recent years, we have secured some great speakers – including from the Department
of Health, and we continue to build on the programme, year-on-year, making sure the content is always fresh, topical and original. There is an increasing number of national events, but we are committed to ensuring we have exclusive content – avoiding speakers who have given similar presentations at other events throughout the year,” said Dean. “We rely heavily on our trade partners, and last year the feedback was that the footfall to the exhibition was also very positive – everyone felt it was open; they could have a conversation, share a coffee, exchange knowledge and learn about the latest innovations.”
Supporting innovation and research Dean went on to share how the IDSc is supporting efforts to drive research and
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