Decontamination
Critical aspects of microbial control
This year, the Central Sterilising Club’s Annual Scientific Meeting brought to the fore the complex challenges around microbial control both in the healthcare environment and with medical devices. At the heart of the discussion was the need to balance patient safety with the need to protect our planet. Louise Frampton reports.
This year, the Central Sterilising Club’s Annual Scientific Meeting took place at Gerrards Cross, bringing together leading experts in the field of decontamination and infection prevention. High on the agenda included discussion of the critical aspects of microbial control; risks relating to water supplies; the problem of biofilms; sustainable decontamination; low temperature sterilisation, training and competency; the role of digital technologies, and much more…
Reflection and remembrance Opening the meeting was the CSC’s outgoing Chair, Jimmy Walker, who stood down this year. His commitment to driving the CSC forward has seen the Club’s educational programme go from strength to strength and continue to push the boundaries with original content – including steering the Club through some challenging times, during the pandemic, when the Club was quick to adapt to virtual study days. Jimmy has brought to the role his many years
of experience of working for Public Health England and the Department of Health, as a scientific leader in water microbiology and decontamination. He thanked the members for their continued support of the Annual Meeting – the “original decontamination forum” – and gave an emotional tribute to the late Graham Stanton, who sadly passed away unexpectedly on the 10th April. A committee member of CSC and a key leader within IHEEM for Authorising Engineers in Decontamination, Graham was remembered for being “a fantastic colleague”, for his “phenomenal representation of decontamination across the UK”, and for his “major contributions to CSC as a club member”.
Kelsey Lecture After reflecting on some of the key highlights of his tenure as Chair, Jimmy introduced Martin Exner, a high-profile specialist in hygiene and environmental medicine, who has received numerous honours – including the Johann Peter Frank Medal (the highest honour of the German
Association of Public Health Service Physicians, for services to public health). Martin, who has overseen many investigations for infection outbreaks over the years, live streamed the Kelsey Lecture, titled: ‘Disinfection and decontamination in healthcare settings: critical aspects of microbial control’. He recognised the important historical contribution of Florence Nightingale to hygiene in hospital settings, including asserting that the “greater part of nursing consists in preserving cleanliness”. He also celebrated the contribution of Robert Koch for his publication of methods for the detection of microorganisms in air, soil and water, as well as methods for disinfection, which continue to inform practices today. He went on to highlight that frequently
touched surfaces in hospitals, such as door handles and bed controls, present an increased risk of transfer of microorganisms (including Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridioides
difficile), onto the hands of healthcare workers, ultimately resulting in the potential for transmission to patients. In 2022, The Robert Kock Institute in Germany published ‘Hygiene requirements for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces: recommendation of the Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention’ (KRINKO),1
which has
now been translated into English. These recommendations are now mandated in Germany but offer some useful tools for hospitals in the UK as well. The document outlines the following criteria as the basis for the indications for cleaning and disinfection: l Infectious bioburden and tenacity of potential pathogens on surfaces and their transmission routes.
l Influence of disinfecting surface cleaning on the rate of nosocomial infections.
l Interruption of cross infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms.
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