With efficient operational procedures in a light, pleasant atmosphere, the new Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) of the Cantonal Hospital Aarau (CHA) in Switzerland offers ideal conditions for patients and staff. In the selection of equipment for the CSSD, the CHA decided for systems with state-of-the-art technology, short cycle times, as well as high energy efficiency, but also for durability and investment security.

The new Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) went into operation on April 6, 2009. The refurbished CSSD is a high-performance service centre, which conditions over 350,000 medical instruments on 365 days a year. Under the leadership of Jörg Helminski, over 20 employees working on an area of above 500 square metres ensure that the instruments are in a perfect state around the clock for the 16 operating theatres in total – provided meticulously clean, dry, functional and sterile. An impeccable sterile supply contributes significantly to preventing infection and maintaining a high level of patient safety.

The prerequisite for mastering the enormous volume of medical instruments and devices to be conditioned is optimal utilisation of machine capacity. The wet zone was therefore equipped with the innovative, intelligent “Rotary System” for fully automated loading and unloading of the total of seven Belimed WD 290 cabinet washer-disinfectors.

The items to be washed can be transferred centrally to the automated system via the feed line placed as required. The modular transport system conveys the items to be washed directly to the next available station. The respective cabinet stations are loaded from individual rotary modules without manual intervention. The load carrier filled with items to be washed is automatically identified on entry in the machine and the correct program starts. Tailback sections, loading modules, full automation of transport systems, as well as automatic washing program identification lead to optimal throughput for the WD 290.

The four Belimed MST-H sterilizers with automatic loading and unloading systems ensure largely automatic sterilization operation. The suitable sterilization program is selected by scanning the barcode. As soon as the sterilizer is free, it is automatically loaded and the appropriate program started. Once the sterilization process is completed, the batch cart is automatically transported out of the machine.

“With the rising demand for sterile instruments and devices that have to fulfil ever more complex requirements, the combination of top working efficiency with the best possible conditioning quality is a must. Well-trained personnel, modern infrastructure and automated processes are important requirements for fulfilling these stringent demands”, says Jörg Helminski, Head of the CSSD.

Today the consumption of energy, water and detergent for the conditioning systems used is already a crucial criterion for the efficiency of a CSSD. In the process of selecting suitable systems, we therefore decided for Belimed, because a large number of technical innovations minimise resource consumption. For example, the WD 290 washer-disinfectors have the unique Dynamic Filling System, whereby the amount of water and detergent required are automatically matched to the quantity of material and equipment to be washed. Waste heat recovery is used to reduce energy consumption, whereby the pure rinsing water is pre-heated at the disinfection stage by means of intelligent coupling thus saving large amounts of cooling water for exhaust air steam condensation. The quiet water ring vacuum pumps integrated in the MST-H steam sterilizers with a water saving system and process water circulation tank also ensure the greatest possible water savings.
But not only were ultra-modern systems installed in the new construction of the CSSD at the Cantonal Hospital Aarau. The entire process organisation of sterile conditioning and distribution was optimised at the same time. The routes taken by instruments are completely traceable for the first time through the internal IT system. The comprehensive CSSD management & tracking software takes care of this. All process steps are automatically monitored, controlled and documented. All sterile items are uniquely identifiable and traceable in the entire cycle at all times. This gives rise to a clearly arranged material store, optimisation of storage costs, fast order processing, as well as avoiding incorrect or incomplete deliveries.

The successful realisation of the CSSD with a total budget of 10 mil. CHF is the result of various collaborations. Thanks to the streamlined project management under the leadership of Nicole Sehringer Bucher and the dedicated cooperation of all employees in the project organisation, the department went into operation on schedule.