Hi there, I have not heard of this before and have been in IPC 30 years plus. If the Endoscopy Decontamination Processing is performed as per national standards and using a high level disinfectant such peracetic acid, this will destroy all viruses and bacteria etc. Would be interested to know what the additional steps are in the SOP? Bottom line is it should not matter which infection or organism is known prior to endoscopy, most of the time you won’t know, answer is to have high standards at all times. Best wishes Martyn

The Endoscopy staff are trained in line with the HTM 01 – 06 and the BSEN 15883 Part 5, the machines are tested and validated in accordance with these standards, all endoscopes should be treated exactly the same, there is a defined decontamination process which all Endoscopy decontamination units should follow, as Martyn says High level disinfection is achieved if the machines are set up and operated correctly, depending on the endoscope there is an option to sterilise (low temperature only) post wash/disinfection. BW Tony