DECONTAMINATION
Decontamination: the challenges ahead in 2022
What are the hot topics for the decontamination sector in 2022? Top decontamination experts provide their views on the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Department of Health figures show a record 6 million patients waiting for planned treatment, while waiting time statistics also show that the number of patients waiting over two years for hospital treatment (12,491) passed the milestone of 10,000, for the first time. There has been a great deal of discussion around the need for surgical hubs and operating theatre strategies to tackle the backlog, but what will this mean for decontamination teams across the UK, in the coming year?
Surgical and endoscopy teams depend on decontamination services to provide quick and efficient turnaround of reprocessed medical devices, but the pressure is set to intensify in 2022, as Jimmy Walker, the chair of the Central Sterilising Club (CSC), points out.
“There is no doubt that there will be an increase in productivity and decontamination units are going to be extremely busy. The NHS will have to work very hard to clear the backlog of operations and, for some decontamination facilities, this could prove to be an ‘eight-day’ exercise,” he commented.
During the pandemic, many
decontamination staff were transferred to other areas, but these staff will now be needed to meet the increased demand for decontamination of medical devices. Ensuring staff are competent and back up to speed will be an important aspect of the recovery. “There was already a shortage of qualified and skilled staff in decontamination. However, we need to consider each stage of
There is no doubt that there will be an increase in productivity and decontamination units are going to be extremely busy. The NHS will have to work very hard to clear the backlog of operations and, for some decontamination facilities, this could
prove to be an ‘eight-day’ exercise. Jimmy Walker, chair, CSC.
JANUARY 2022
the work and establish where the gaps are,” Walker continued. He added that training will be crucial to ensure high quality services, as we move forward, and it is important that this is not overlooked as the workload ramps up. “We need to make sure that staff feel confident in their qualifications, confident in their training and confident in performing their day-to-day work. This requires an effective strategy, ensuring that the education is in place to support them,” he commented. CSC, working with other organisations – including the Institute of Decontamination Sciences (IDSc), Infection Prevention Society (IPS), Hospital Infection Society (HIS) and British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) – will have a key role to play in the provision of training and educational opportunities, as well as the development of guidance. CSC will also continue to support decontamination professionals by awarding grants to fund training or attendance at educational events. Going forward, it will be important to ensure staff maintain their CPD training, if we are to rise to the challenges ahead.
Education and study days Despite the impact of the pandemic, CSC has continued to host study days online and has now started to return to face-to- face study days and scientific meetings, to
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