Cleaning processes

Safeguarding patient wellbeing is a top priority for all healthcare professionals and dentistry has a whole range of procedures and protocols aimed at minimising cross infection. Decontamination and sterilisation equipment is at the forefront of the fight against the potential risk of prion transmission and ensuring that equipment is performing according to manufacturers’ parameters is an important first step in identifying possible shortfalls in performance. In order to validate the processes being performed, decontamination equipment must be operating effectively and being able to document and provide evidence of compliance is a vital aspect in adhering to infection control guidelines.

However, although there is a perceived logic of this approach, the detail can cause confusion. Firstly there are significant regional differences in regulations as well as anomalies in the type of cleaning processes that different authorities regard as suitable. Secondly there is a difference between ‘testing’ and ‘validation’, and thirdly there are a variety of guidelines as to the frequency with which different tests should be carried out.