2013 version of HTM01-05 published
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- Published: Tuesday, 09 April 2013 07:36
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The full text can be found at: can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/cjghk3x
2013 edition of Health Technical Memorandum 01-05
This section does not give an exhaustive list of the amendments made to the 2009 edition but rather summarises the rationale behind this new edition, in particular the main policy changes.
This 2013 edition of Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 reflects the consensus on patient safety in the area of storage of dental instruments. Consequently, this review of the guidance on storage times (in particular, see paragraphs 2.4k, 4.22 and 4.26–4.27) has been carried out in advance of the planned revision of Health Technical Memorandum 01-05.
It is recognised that potentially infectious recontamination of sterilized dental instruments is event-related rather than time-dependent. Within dental practices, there is a rapid turnaround of the most regularly used dental instruments. The 2009 edition was not helpful in the management of these frequently used instruments.
The rationale for this change is that these dental instruments are used in contaminated body areas. Any environmental contamination that takes place would have a minimal impact on patient safety compared with contamination with another patient’s blood or body fluid, which would be a significant hazard to patients.
Thus, the emphasis is on ensuring effective decontamination and preventing contamination with another patient’s blood and body fluid rather than on preventing environmental contamination of sterilized instruments.
The guidance document has also been updated to reflect the changes to the NHS infrastructure following the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
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