The Principles of Medical Device Decontamination

All staff should be appropriately supervised within their areas of work, and their performance regularly assessed, to ensure competencies are maintained. Competency should be subject to both internal and external audit. All initial and refresher training should form part of a staff members personal record. These records act as evidence to demonstrate staff have been trained and provides due diligence in the case of a legal challenge relating to any alleged decontamination failure.

Training for Infection Prevention and Control

All staff should be up to date with mandatory and statutory training for Infection Prevention and Control in accordance to their organisational policies, Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and National HCAI code of Practice . This includes training in accordance with Standard Infection Prevention and Control Precautions (SICP). SICPs should be used by all staff, in all care settings, at all times, for all patients whether infection is known to be present or not to ensure the safety of those being cared for, staff and visitors in the care environment. The elements of SICPs are: • Patient placement and assessment for infection (Screening / triaging / testing • Hand hygiene* • Respiratory and cough hygiene • Personal Protective equipment (PPE)* • Safe management of the care environment* • Safe management of the patient care equipment* • Safe management of healthcare linen

• Safe management of blood and body fluids* • Safe disposal of waste (including sharps)* • Occupational safety: prevention and exposure management*

* Key SICP’s in the decontamination of equipment and medical devices

The following pages contain details of decontamination training for staff in different disciplines.

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