Decontamination Services
The Decontamination Services Department is part of Clinical Support Division and consist of two departments:
- Sterile Services Department (SSD) provides decontamination of surgical instruments and supplies them to all operating theatres, wards and departments at Chelsea and Westminster and also to private clinics
- Endoscope Decontamination Unit (EDU) provides decontamination of flexible endoscopes
Across two departments we employ 30 staff, who are highly trained in decontamination. The aim of both departments is to make sure that risk associated with using instruments and flexible endoscopes is minimised.
Both departments are compliant with the Medical Devices Directive and hold a certificate of compliance with ISO 13485: Quality Management System. Decontamination Services is committed to:
- Ensuring that products issued are fit for the purpose for which they are intended
- Responding promptly and effectively to the needs of our purchasers and service users
- Satisfying all aspects of agreed contracts between the department and its customers pertaining to the manufacture and/or processing of reusable devices, including surgical instrumentation and flexible endoscopes
- Maintaining a Quality Management System that reflects good practice and complies with the Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC), 2007/47/EC, ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485:2003
- Continually improving the effectiveness of the Quality Management System
- Operating quality procedures to ensure objectives outlined in this policy are monitored, met consistently, reliably and at an optimal cost given the quality parameters
- Providing its personnel with the working environments, tools, leadership and training to discharge their assigned duties most effectively
- Seeking always to continually improve the quality performance of the SSD and EDU by means of measuring and monitoring performance against defined objectives
