Getting the scope right

The 450 bed Barnsley Hospital is expanding its endoscope reprocessing department, and has installed an ELGA Process Water Biopure 600 to supply the HTM2030 compliant water. The department currently handles around 50 endoscopes each day in two Labcaire Guardian automatic re-processors, but is set to increase capacity by about 50%. The expansion is needed to meet the increasing demand for reprocessing services not only from Barnsley Hospital itself, but from several other hospitals in the surrounding area.

The water treatment system consists of water softeners feeding the floor standing Biopure 600, which delivers up to 600 l/h via a ring main to the endoscope re-processors, and there is enough spare capacity for the hospital's future needs. Water from the Biopure 600 is used for all parts of the wash cycle, even though HTM2030 only requires this quality for the final rinse. "We decided to do this after consulting with the infection control team," says Estates Manager Paul Hawcroft. "We believe that using only a single water system eliminates possible sources of infection. The water might be a bit more expensive but, when you take into consideration the additional valves and pipework for a dual system, the total cost is not a lot more and it's much simpler to maintain."

Inside the Biopure 600 is a high efficiency reverse osmosis membrane that removes a broad range of organic and inorganic contaminants and an integral treated water reservoir with a bacterial vent filter to maintain microbiological integrity. A pump delivers treated water to the ring main via a UV disinfection lamp for continuous bacterial destruction, and a final molecular ultrafilter to ensure removal of endotoxins, bacteria and particulate contamination.

Amongst the wealth of innovative features and options on the Biopure range are: secure'e-key' access to system settings, and automatic reminders for disinfection, maintenance and consumable replacements for enhanced quality control. A state-of-the art self-disinfection programme makes chemical sanitisation of the Biopure 600 a simple operation.