Neville Fowler, Technical Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London explains how a scoping project undertaken by the Trust, identified the need for a backup sterile processing department (SPD), to provide cover and security for potential breakdowns within the hospitals current facilities.
Whilst the current facility at St Thomas’ Hospital could meet existing demand, it was decided the additional support would come from a new facility to be built in Guy’s Hospital. The current SPD at St Thomas’ would be refurbished, bringing it up to current legislative standards.
As an existing proven supplier to the Trust, Envirogen were selected to design, install, and commission the reverse osmosis water purification package.
The aim was for the sterile processing department to be shared between both Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, providing increased capacity with the potential to supply services to other hospitals within the area.
Compact water treatment system helps power the newest and most modern UK NHS hospital sterilization and decontamination unit
The hospital, innovative in its development, saw the opportunity to help maximize staff productivity by combining wash areas within the facility. To achieve this, it decided to have three separate workflows (all contaminated areas):
• Main instrument wash
• Endoscopy wash
• Medical Disinfection Unit (MDU)
This design would allow staff to move between areas quickly, effectively, and safely, meeting demand as required and maximizing the resources available. The construction process at both sites went through a tender process. CFES Ltd were awarded the contract giving them responsibility for building the new facility at Guy’s Hospital and the refurbishment at St Thomas’.
The Trust purchased Belimed washer-disinfectors, porous load sterilizers and Getinge Lancer endoscope reprocessors directly from the manufacturers, whilst Envirogen was chosen to supply the new reverse osmosis water purification system (RO plant) at Guy’s and to refurbish and increase output of the current equipment at St Thomas’.
Guy’s Hospital: New reverse osmosis water purification solution
To meet the pure water demand at Guy’s, Envirogen supplied a duplex reverse osmosis system, which automatically operates in duty standby mode ensuring regular and equal usage between the units. This duplex RO design also provides coverage for any scheduled service. A 265 gallon (1,000 litres) treated water storage tank was installed to buffer the water supply to the washer disinfectors and clean steam generators.
An EndoTherm Mini was installed to feed the two supplementary Getinge Lancer Endoscope reprocessors. The EndoTherm Mini was chosen because it is compact, reliable, and cost effective.
Neville Fowler, Technical Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, explained:
“Within 2 years it would pay for itself with the savings on chemicals and the reduction in staffing costs due to its automatic self sanitization.”
The complete development of the new area at Guy’s Hospital took eight months to finish on schedule and budget.
St Thomas’ Hospital: Plant refurbishment and upgrade
As the current water purification supplier to this site, Envirogen refurbished an existing hot set RO system within the sterile processing department and created a complete duplex design. As with Guy’s Hospital, an EndoTherm Mini was installed to feed the Endoscope reprocessors within the theatres department.
Neville Fowler, Technical Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, said:
“What I like about the Envirogen systems is that we don’t have to touch them. They require minimal attention. We see the TVC results, they are always zero.”
The redevelopment of the St Thomas’ site took seven months. Again, within the allocated/planned work schedule, with all suppliers working closely together to ensure delivery dates were achieved.
Service plan contract maximizes productivity
To support the water purification equipment supplied to the Guy’s and St Thomas’ the Trust chose to take a multi-year service contract with critical spares pack. This maximizes productivity and prevents unplanned down time with any potential risks being identified during routine maintenance.
The sites now process over 125,000 trays a year through their SPD The Trust has the largest dental school in the UK with 250 chairs, from which they process 2 million dental instruments a year.
Since opening the new department at Guy’s they also undertake all the Sterile Processing Department work for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Additionally, the Trust is able to consider additional external work for other hospitals in the area, helping ensure the continued operation of the site and maximizing the benefits and return on investment to the Trust.
About the client
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust includes 5 of the UK’s best-known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. They are among the UK’s busiest and most successful foundation trusts, with a long history of high-quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.
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