Endoscopy Decontamination Centralisation - Capital Equipment

The Endoscopy Decontamination Department at CDDFT currently operates across three sites producing high-level disinfected flexible Endoscopes for patient use. There are currently 11 Automated Endoscope Re-processors (AER's) in operation: DMH: 4; BAH: 3; UHND: 4, each with 2 chambers. The scopes are cleaned in a single chamber. The AER processors are past their life-cycle age and need urgent replacement. The user departments are encountering reliability issues which are directly affecting patient treatment. The current departments do not currently hold external accreditation for the production process. The decision was made in 2019 to centralize the unit into one site at DMH and make use of the space vacated by the centralization of the CSSD unit into UHND. In March 2021 funding was approved to proceed with the detailed design phase of the construction works required for the centralized unit. This has been completed to RIBA stage 4 by QEF.