At Benenden Hospital we're very proud of our people, who work so hard to enable a safe, comfortable, patient-focused environment for those in our care.
When it comes to cleanliness and hygiene, we work to the highest possible standards across the hospital to ensure the health and safety of our patients and staff.
Our Decontamination Services (DS) team is responsible for the decontamination of reusable medical devices received into, used by and sent out from the hospital.
DS includes our purpose-built Sterile Services Department (SSD), which deals with the decontamination of reusable surgical instruments, and our Endoscopy Decontamination Unit (EDU) which deals with the decontamination of reusable flexible endoscopes. What is an endoscope?
The DS team of 14 staff is dedicated to ensuring that the hospital complies with relevant standards, legislation and guidance. We always use best practice standards and work with colleagues across the hospital to provide a quality service which focuses on the safety of our patients.
Sterile Service Department
SSD includes three main areas:
Decontamination area
This area is designed for the receipt, checking, manual cleaning, automated washing and thermal disinfection of surgical instruments and the containers they’re transported in.
Inspection, Assembly and Packing room
A dedicated, controlled room used for the inspection, functionality testing, assembly and packaging of surgical instruments following automated wash-disinfection and before sterilisation.
Autoclave and Despatch area
An area used for the sterilisation and despatching of decontaminated surgical instruments.
Endoscopy Decontamination Unit
The EDU is located within our Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) and is made up of two areas:
Decontamination Room
This room is designed for the receipt, checking, functionality testing, manual cleaning, automated washing and chemical disinfection of flexible endoscopes.
Clean Room
The clean room is used for the preparation and packing of flexible endoscopes. We can store up to seven days’ worth of endoscopes in specialised cabinets.
I have a question about Decontamination Services
If you'd like to find out more about the Sterile Service Department or the Endoscopy Decontamination Unit, you can contact us using our online enquiry form.
