Decontamination unit earns top rating for Stepping Hill

The decontamination unit at Stepping Hill Hospital has received an exceptional outcome following a re-certification audit.

The Hospital Sterlisation and Disinfection Unit (HSDU), which ensures surgical instruments are clean, sterile and safe to use, was inspected by the British Standards Institute (BSI), the national body which ensures units comply with European and International  standards which demonstrate instruments are effectively and appropriately decontaminated.

The latest audit showed the hospital’s HSDU had no ‘none compliances’, meaning standards were as high as possible and ensuring and maintaining the national certified  standard of quality assurance (known as Quality Assurance certification CE02144.)

The HSDU ensures the hospital’s operating theatres and endoscopy unit are provided with the correct sterile instruments for the thousands of procedures they undertake each year. Effective decontamination of instruments is a vital part of reducing the risks of cross infection between patients; while the unit is important at all times, it is particularly so during the current coronavirus health emergency.

The re-certification of the HSDU by the BSI will now stand for the next three years.

Elliot Riley, Decontamination Manager for the unit said:

We are very pleased with the new rating, which shows we are giving all we can to adhere to the standards, regulations , and guidance on sterilisation, and playing a key part in the safety of our surgical patients. I’d like to say a big  thank you to all the team, we certainly wouldn’t have been able to achieve this success if it wasn’t for the commitment and dedication of all our staff involved.”

Image: Valerie Morgan, team member at the decontamination unit.