Decontamination
Scotland’s Medical Device Decontamination Seminar
Scotland’s Medical Device Decontamination seminar returned to the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel in May 2025. Gillian McIntosh, Trainee Technical Advisor (Decontamination), NHSScotland Assure, provides an overview of the day.
Returning to the Golden Jubilee Conference hotel, Scotland’s Medical Device Seminar was opened by Sulisti Holmes, Head of Decontamination and Incident Reporting and Investigation Centre at NHSScotland Assure. Sulisti thanked Convenzis for facilitating the event, all speakers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors for their support. There were around 130 attendees, 19 exhibitors including a mobile endoscope decontamination unit. The objectives of this year’s conference were to offer attendees the opportunity for shared learning and a space to discuss various topics including new guidance, standards and regulations, research, innovation and lessons learned from past incidents. Sulisti reminded everyone of the focus of the day, which was patient safety. The conference was well attended by a wide range of healthcare professionals and industries from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Europe. A summary of each presentation can be found below.
Identification and prevention of surface alterations on surgical Instruments caused by waterborne minerals This first presentation was from Dr. Matthias Tschoerner, Head of Applications Department and Research and Development Chemische Fabrik Dr. Weigert GmbH & Co. The presentation discussed water constituents, such as heavy and non-ferrous metals, silicic acid and chloride, and their influence on the reprocessing of medical devices. Dr. Tschoerner also outlined the water quality required for
each stage of the decontamination process for medical devices – for example, the use of deionised water for the final rinse stage of a washer-disinfector and for steam sterilisation. However, this deionised water is harsh on surgical instruments. Key learning highlighted in the characterisation of surface alterations caused by waterborne minerals. The take home conclusions from the presentation were: l The discolouration’s are caused by a few nanometres of thin titanium oxide layers and silicate layers
l After mechanical stressing, no changes in the surface structure were observed for all characterised linings. No destruction or detachment was observed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
l Due to mechanical stress, no particles of SEM detectable size were separated from the test instruments
Some benefits of the new guidance are the use of washer-disinfectors has now been formalised in SHTM 01-05, dental handpiece lubrication is now more prominent and clarification on record retention for dental practices.
l The investigated deposits showed no cytotoxic properties
Publications of SHTM 01-05 The second presentation of the day was by Alice Millar, Assistant Postgraduate Dental Dean NHS Education for Scotland. This presentation discussed the guidance for the management, equipment, and process of the decontamination of dental instruments in a Local Decontamination Unit in NHSScotland. The guidance, which was published in April 2024, focused on being ‘Evolutionary not Revolutionary’. Some benefits of the new guidance include: the use of washer-disinfectors has now been formalised in SHTM 01-05, dental handpiece lubrication is now more prominent, and clarification has been provided on record retention for dental practices. Additionally, with modern practice, dental instruments are now reprocessed using an automatic process in a dedicated room, offering consistent practice across the country.
Microbial contamination of final rinse water for endoscope washer-disinfectors Following on, Carol Colligan, Infection Control Manager/ Decontamination Lead, NHS Shetland
September 2025 I
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