EBME Forums Forums Management Equipment Libraries The NEXT BLACKPOOL FORUM

Hi Huw,
Thanks for the reminder. I trust that, as a newcomer, I have not strayed from the point so far. If I have, please tell me. My last post related to library cleaning of equipment, which I assume is a general point for a library forum
Regards,
Dave L.

Oh I havent disappeared UHW. I just am not canvassing specifically for the Blackpool forum on here thats all. I am alive and well and as enthusiastic as ever. I agree on your comments, to operate flexibly and to be reactive leads to a much more effective and efficient service. We have operated that way since day one and our second customer survey after 2 years operation highlighted an appreciation for our " professionalism", as well as the speed of delivery and cleanliness of the service. You cant get better feedback than that. We also have a high turnover and yes as you say, the contact allows superb networking with nursing, and other staff. We do all work to the same end and that is patient care, unless we have become embroiled in a 2 dimensional universe! Our service does demand a decon note from each ward - this is not always done and non compliance is noted and recorded. This is then fed back and right now there is a huge infection control drive at our hospital and the robustness of our reporting system has helped to reinforce statistically the need for compliance amongst ward staff. We do also within the library service clean the equipment as it enters the library as well, and so the engineers know in ALL cases if they receive a piece of equipment that is doubly cleaned. EBME still struggle with the production of a certificate for items due for repair, but our close relationship which works so well within our service means that library staff on occasion are able to collect equipment for the engineering staff - this means the decon is done as library staff will NOT leave till it is done! Ward staff are well used to our determination to reinforce that policy. Likewise, the engineers assist the library service when we have a crises for stock during a viral outbreak and need an urgent repair job. Flexibility is the key, and an enthusiasm amongst an entire team to ensure that ultimately at the end of the day the nurse gets what they need to deliver patient care.
To bring this back round to the Blackpool forum ( yes Huw I will prevail ) - this is a prime area for discussion at the event in September and surely one we could highlight as a topic for a speaker? Contamination and infection control is a huge arena both for medical engineers and library staff - both professionals are involved in medical equipment libraries in some way - how about it? anyone willing to step in and front the topic - open up a workshop on this issue? It cannot and should not always be me or someone from Blackpool - someone from the forum should take ownership to make it a true networking experience!

Hi Jo,
Good point. How about one of our engineering colleagues. After all, they get to open the machines up. We have had cases where outwardly clean instruments have been contaminated inside. We actually had one (new) nurse who wanted to submrge syringe pumps in a bowl of water to clean them!
Regards,
Dave L.

Yes our lads often reveal the true horrors beneath a apparently cleaned machine - tis worth a thought! A good presentation with suitably graphic pics would be an education to all methinks - just depends if anyone is brave enough to step up to the stage!

Or, perhaps better yet, why not bring some of the "horrors" along? That way you'll not only save yourself the time and trouble of taking photos (as if anybody has the time for that sort of thing), but you'll also get the full benefit of the smells as well!

Hi Jo,
I've had some more thoughts on this, and I think that this could be an important Library Forum item. Darth would reasonably expect any equipment that he looked at to have a decon note. Here, as I have said before, the equipment loan service cleans everything that comes through our hands, so our lab knows that it is clean. Hence, no need for a decon note. We can't deal with anything on the inside of the instrument. There is also a school of thought in the lab that says that they don't require a decon note unless the equipment being sent to them has been contaminated. Not contaminated means an instrument used in an environment where there is no known source of contamination. Perhaps it is time for the pre library policy to be revisited. I have met this sort of policy "shift" before. Pre loan services / libraries, there was a national policy on the number of infusion devices that should be in place at all times on a Paeds ITU bed. This is no longer relevant, given that such a ward can get what it wants, when it wants it, from the library.
Keep up with the photos. Here, Infection Control ask us to supply these for "evidence", and we always make time to do so

Every NHS Hospital Trust that I have "visited" in recent times has had in place a Trust Policy stating that a Decontamination Declaration (or whatever) must accompany every piece of equipment sent for servicing (this guidance may well have come down from upon high, for all I know). Biomeds have "fought long and hard" for years to gain this "concession"!

Granted that you are talking about the equipment library process, rather than servicing per se, I guess the first place to look would be in the Trust Policies.

From what you good people are saying, it seems that the onus for equipment cleanliness is being shifted from the user (ie, those with at least some responsibility for it becoming dirty, and, one hopes with some knowledge of the nature of the contamination) to the library staff (not ... in both cases). At first glance, this seems to me to be a recipe, if not for disaster, then at the very least an endorsement of lazy, careless, behaviour on the part of user staff.

You don't seem to like nursing staff much, do you? None of us have had any sickness for the life of the library. What I am suggesting is a revisit to the whole policy of when a decon note is required. I would rather see library staff cleaning equipment ( knowing that it has been cleaned ) than take up busy nursing time which could be better spent with patients. This is a very relevant subject for anyone working in equipment loans, and as I said above, is an important item for the next Blackpool Forum

It seems as though if I walk away from a thread for five minutes it completely loses it's direction.

• If you can't be civil, expect your post to be deleted.
• Stay on topic or expect your post to be deleted.
• I will no longer explain why posts are being deleted.
• If you break these rules - expect a ban (short term at first....)

Your friendly administrator.

Interestingly enough I have just spoken to a library which is setting up and has just taken the step of cutting out the wards altogether - the library will clean after collection - why? because the nursing staff just cant be trusted to comply with decontamination policy - yet again brings us back to the issue hot for discussion! Is anyone going to volunteer on this one for the Blackpool forum, or am I going to have to front this myself -if so I would welcome any contributions by email of examples of poor practice, good practice etc etc to feed into a presentation!
Geoff try and control yourself just a little please - or else why not come to the forum and vent your spleen in person - now theres an idea!!!!!!