Controlling the processes. Legislation governing decontamination and sterilisation.
Time was, in the not so distant past, that any piece of equipment we wanted to re-use in the Theatre Sterile Services Unit (TSSU) was either autoclaved or 'sterilised' in chemicals. The words 'single use' were virtually never used, and I certainly knew very little about the legislation surrounding the whole issue. Indeed, just a little while further back than that, we used to wash and pack and autoclave whole sets of instruments ourselves (it was a good way of learning the sets for the student nurses!). Now we have the whole issue of traceability and responsibility to consider. Martin Williams discusses some of the legislation and issues arising. I wonder who my Authorised Person is? Do you know yours?
United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust.
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D004209:Disposable Equipment; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D009871:Operating Room Nursing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012308:Risk Management; D013242:Sterilization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom