A trifecta of recent investments in surgical instrument care and sterilisation means VOR can keep our surgical and infection control standards at the highest level and provide the best in specialist care.

AUTOMATED INSTRUMENT WASHER

Manual surgical instrument cleaning is now largely a thing of the past after commissioning a Melag Melatherm automated instrument washer.  Automated mechanical cleaning is preferred to manual cleaning as it is more efficient, reduces the risk of exposure to biohazards and reduces the risk of penetrating skin injuries from sharp instruments.  It also ensures continuity in cleaning efficacy, water quality, water temperature, detergent concentration, contact cleaning time and drying time.

The quality of water used at all stages in the cleaning process is critical to a good outcome.  As part of the installation, a water processing system was installed to filter, soften, filter and demineralise water going through the washer.  With our ophthalmic instruments no longer exposed to untreated Adelaide tap water and being actively dried after cleaning, they are staying free of rust, pitting, erosions, cracks and other cleaning side effects which impede their performance and shorten their lifespan.

STATE OF THE ART STERILIZER

Along with our new washer, we have now also replaced our previous steriliser with a Melag Vakuklav Evolution steriliser, one of the most powerful and efficient in its category.  The advantages of this unit include:

• Improved chamber capacity for our kit packing system, enabling fewer sterilisation cycles and less energy consumption;
• Intelligent drying technology specifically developed to allow drying to be automatically adapted to the individual load, with optimum drying results with shortened drying times;
• Colour touch screen display allowing efficient information retrieval when setting and monitoring cycles;
• Staff can be equipped with an individual PIN for secure traceability of the sterilisation batch approval;
• Labels printed with barcodes and dates used to ensure accurate documentation of sterility for kits and any individually wrapped instruments.

NOVEL INSTRUMENT PACKING AND STORAGE SYSTEM

To complete the upgrade, we have also invested in the Melastore tray and box system for packing, cleaning, sterilising and storing our delicate ophthalmic instruments.  Along with the washer, this has changed the way process our kits:

• Used/dirty instruments are securely packed in specific trays (stainless steel closed ‘cages’ with silicone inserts to stabilise even the most delicate of instruments) and the loaded trays are put through the washer ‘in situ’ for cleaning and drying;
• The loaded, cleaned trays come out of the washer and are in turn loaded inside designated robust aluminium boxes with integrated name plates, labelling panels, a clip seal system and ventilation holes protected by filters;
• These boxes go directly in the steriliser with no outer wrap required, cutting down markedly on disposables;
• In the steriliser the boxes can simply be stacked one on top of another, saving space and reducing loads required;
• After sterilisation the boxes (ie kits) are labelled and moved to sterile surgical supply where once again they can be safely stacked with no risk to the integrity of their sterile contents.