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The disinfection of flexible fibre-optic nasendoscopes out-of-hours: confidential telephone survey of ENT units in England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

J. Kanagalingam ,
A. Zainal ,
C. Georgalas ,
S. Paun  and
N. S. Tolley
J. Kanagalingam
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
A. Zainal
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
C. Georgalas
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
S. Paun
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
N. S. Tolley
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK.
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Abstract

We present the results of a confidential telephone survey of ENT units in England on the disinfection of flexible fibre-optic nasendoscopes out-of-hours. The on-call residents of 124 units were contacted and questioned. In 35.1 per cent of units surveyed, the on-call resident was primarily responsible for cleaning the scopes after use. Only 46 per cent of these junior doctors had access to a chemical sterilant to allow for high-level disinfection of these scopes. Provision for disinfection of scopes was poorer in teaching hospitals and in units that served inner city populations. Only 12.1 per cent of Senior House Officers (SHOs) received any training in disinfection techniques and only 25.5 per cent of units kept a register of patients nasendoscoped out-of-hours for purposes of contact tracing.

Keywords

EndoscopeDisinfection
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 116 , Issue 10 , October 2002 , pp. 817 - 822
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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