SterilPlus opens its first UK decontamination centre
SterilPlus, the UK division of Vanguard, a Berlin-based company and a leading European specialist decontamination provider, has opened its first purpose-built surgical decontamination centre in the UK.
As part of a 12-year national contract worth around £120m, the Sterile Service Unit in Radlett, Hertfordshire will provide surgical instrument decontamination, laser bar-coding and full tracking to nine BMI Healthcare hospitals in the London region.
SterilPlus will open a further three purpose-built units this year. Two adapted facilities are already providing outsourced decontamination to the company’s private hospitals in the north and Scotland.
Stephan Sagolla, chief executive of SterilPlus said: “This is just the beginning. Soon we will offer the full range of hospital logistics services that we already provide in Germany.”
European Directive 93/42/EEC on the sterilisation and tracking of medical devices has led to instruments being decontaminated offsite after each use rather than within hospitals to ensure standards are maintained and patient safety is ensured. The Radlett opening marks the beginning of a new wave of decontamination centres to open nationwide in accordance with legislation. SterilPlus will process instruments and return them to hospitals within 24 hours, with 95,000 instrument trays being processed by the facility each year. Instrumentation will be laser bar-coded both in sets and by individual item.
At last month’s opening in Radlett, Digby Jones, former head of the Confederation of British Industry and Trade and Industry minister, congratulated SterilPlus and BMI Healthcare on their partnership approach to excellence.
“This unique unit is a testament to the collegiate approach of two management teams determined to deliver gold standard services,” he said.