Decontamination Assistant

As a Decontamination Assistant you will be working as part of a team to complete decontamination and sterilisation process for reusable medical devices including endoscopes, following the ISO accredited policies, procedures and work instructions within department’s quality system.

You will play a key role in delivering all decontamination related duties based within Sterile Services Department and Endoscope Decontamination Unit at Bedford Hospital.

The post holder will work in line with the departmental work instructions, whilst adhering to the ISO accredited policies and procedures in all aspects of the Sterile services a Department and Endoscope Decontamination Unit.

At Bedford Hospital our main priority is to deliver safe and high quality care to our patient. The care we would want for our loved ones and ourselves. We are aiming for our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience.

**This is 1 full time position**: working 2 weeks roster Monday to Friday 8-4pm and 11am-7pm and every other weekend.

The Decontamination Service within Bedford Hospital NHS Trust consists of Sterile Services Department and the Endoscopy Decontamination Unit. Both areas supply sterile and disinfected Reusable Medical Devices to wards, Departments and theatres within the Trust. The work involves the collection, decontamination, preparation, packing, sterilisation or disinfection and the distribution of Re-Usable Medical Devices

Receipt, sorting and preparing of reusable medical devices including endoscopes for cleaning and disinfection.

Inspection, re-assembly, function testing, packaging, sealing and labelling of reusable medical devices that have been satisfactorily washed, disinfected and dried.

Carry out required independent checking of instrument trays (for others) ensuring the contents are correct and reporting any discrepancies.

Maintaining an awareness of the basic types and categories of instruments, flexible scopes according to their function and identify the points for inspection and test procedures.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics.

You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career.

We have state-of-the art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Please review all documents attached to this advert to ensure you familiarise yourself with all requirements of the job.

Inspection of instruments and equipment on receipt into Decontamination area and at various stages throughout production, storage and distribution, immediately reporting damaged or missing items/components

Dismantle/Assembly of instrumentation following the cleaning and disinfection process and manufacturers recommendations.

Ensuring that the packaging, wrapping and labelling of instrument sets and supplementary items is done in accordance with legislation and guidance to meet the service needs

Understand the different types of sterilisation/disinfection methods use, and the importance of product liability regarding the re-use of these items.

Carry out quality checks on items to ensure that the devices have been correctly decontaminated and are safe for patient use.

Carry out the correct action required if the decontamination function is in doubt and report/document any failure to the Decontamination Services Manager.

Ensure process and cycle data is checked prior to the acceptance and release of products.

Use the correct types of wrapping materials and methods of packing and minimise damage.

Carry out the correct procedure for non-conforming devices and sundries in the event of a failed washer/disinfector/steriliser cycle in order that these items are not used in any surgical procedure.