Nhs Tayside Central Decontamination Unit

Being the main processing site for surgical instruments in the NHS Tayside area, the CDU services 52 surgical theatres & Dundee Dental Hospital, processing 8,000,000 instruments in compliance with EN ISO 13485:2016 to ensure continued registration to Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC on Medical Devices Annex V.

Sciamed Ltd met with the Decontamination Team at NHS Tayside to understand the issue and look for a solution that met the timescale and budget guidelines for the project. The ability to mark each instrument with a GS1 compliant barcode would allow the management system to track each instrument through the washing, disinfection, packing and sterilisation processes, as well as identifying the instrument using a GS1 GTIN bar code that was unique to NHS Tayside. Sciamed proposed a Datalogic Ulyxe Laser Marking System with safety enclosure/workstation using Datalogic’s “Lighter” software package for design and control of the Laser Marking system. The system was delivered in Partnership with LaserLines, a Datalogic Master Distributor of Laser Marking Products. Sciamed and Laser Lines carried out an on-site demonstration of the system and submitted a proposal that had significant cost benefits over a label-based identification system that required labels to be replaced every two years.

• Benefits of Datalogic laser marking solution: No on-going requirement for consumables
• The laser mark is a permanent mark on the surface of the instrument and does not affect the protective “passive” layer
• The equipment requires minimal housekeeping
• Marking instruments is a quick and simple process
• Implementation and Operator training was carried out on site by Sciamed and Laser Lines
• The system is able to mark a GS1 GTIN bar code that is site specific on a wide variety of materials including Stainless Steel, Anodised Aluminium, Titanium and Plastic

Alan Simpson, the Quality and Technical Manager for NHS Tayside said: “The the Sciamed Laser Etching equipment integrated seamlessly with our Tracking and Traceability system and has been an essential asset in ensuring the prevention of high risk instrument migration. We are grateful to Sciamed who have supported us throughout and ensured the Laser Etching equipment was incorporated into our demanding throughput requirements without incident” For more information, please contact stephen.henry@sciamed.co.uk to arrange an on-site demonstration of the Ulyxe Laser Marking System and workstation.