Calibration and Validation of Medical Decontamination Equipment

Periodic calibration and validation of medical decontamination equipment is required as stated in Department of Health publications relating to HTM 01-01 through HTM 01-06 publications. To comply with UK and European protocols, autoclaves, sterilizers, washer disinfectors, ultrasonics, gas plasmas and other peripheral decontamination equipment all require periodic calibration and validation to ensure the equipment is operating safely and accurately. This also includes endoscope reprocessor units.

Developed exclusively for Audere Medical Services Limited in conjunction with TQ Solutions an international market leader in thermal validation processes, our engineers use TQ-Audere. The bespoke software has been designed to comply with all relevant Department of Health protocols and to generate and save full, traceable calibration reports.

How often should medical decontamination equipment be calibrated and/or tested?

Depending upon each individual unit and its usage, the calibration and validation testing should be undertaken either, daily, weekly, quarterly or annually and performed by Competent Persons (Decontamination). We work with our customers to advise and plan appropriate testing schedules for their medical decontamination equipment to ensure their compliance.

All validation and testing undertaken by the company is to the required UK and European protocols including the Department of Health’s HTM 01-01 through HTM 01-06 publications, and Performance Qualification (PQ). We regularly review our work practices, operating procedures and reporting documentation to update them in accordance with manufacturer and industry recommendations and regulations respectively.

The methodology and procedure implemented differentiates us from the competitors because unlike the majority of them, we will include full thermometric testing as standard when applicable.

The calibration and validation tests results will be sent to the customer within 48 hours of our engineer leaving site. The format of the report can be customised to the clients’ specific requirements and will include detailed performance data. Customers are able to access their reports via the Audere database, a secure cloud based platform.

As with our other services, equipment calibration and validation is offered as a stand-alone and also included in our Service Contract Schemes.