Providing an effective endoscope decontamination service within a safe environment is an essential requirement for every endoscopy unit in England (Health Act, 2006). The JAG Accreditation process highlighted deficiencies in both equipment and processes. This document has been produced as an aid to assess current practice and provide a framework for implementing high standards in decontamination. The ESAC-pr Endoscopy Sub-committee are producing a comprehensive document on endoscope decontamination which incorporates these guidelines. The document called HTM-01-06 will be available in April 2009. These guidelines will be supported by a eparate endoscope decontamination accreditation process.

Content:

- Operational Management
- Environment, design and layout
- Safety
- Staff Training
- Stages of endoscope decontamination
- Preliminary cleaning
- Manual Cleaning
- Valves and detachable parts
- Disinfectants
- Automated Endoscope Reprocessing machines (AER)
- Storage
- Patient Traceability
- Accessories
- Maintenance
- Testing and Validation
- Procurement