Östra Hospital’s new CSSD optimizes the surgical instrument workflow

In 2008, a decision was taken to build new CSSDs at all of the Sahlgrenska University Hospitals in the Västra Götaland region. New EU directives set higher requirements of the traceability of surgical instruments, and there was also a need to improve quality and efficiency for staff working in the CSSDs and operating rooms (ORs).

The design of the CSSDs is based on Getinge's solutions, and the department located at Östra Hospital is the latest to be ready to be put into operation.

“The project is a collaboration between Östra Hospital, the contractor NCC, the developer Västfastigheter and Getinge, which was responsible for products and solutions. Good communication has been the key to success,” says Mats Rydenfors, Unit Manager of the CSSD at Östra Hospital.

He is supported by Henrik Hellgren at NCC:

“Building a CSSD is complex; there are high tolerance and impermeability requirements, which affect door surroundings and ventilation, among other things. We’ve gained a lot of experience and found solutions together, which has been both inspiring and fun. I’m very happy and proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Mats also emphasizes the exchange of experience:

“We’ve collaborated closely and used a common forum to regularly align our expectations. Everyone was involved in the project at an early stage, which made it easier to work towards the same goals.”

Mats is also behind the CSSDs at Mölndal Hospital and Sahlgrenska, which have been in operation for a couple of years now. He believes that collaborating with the same partner in terms of architecture, water, products and solutions has made the work run smoothly.

“Having solutions from one supplier made it easier to plan the layout and handle maintenance. We had to keep a very open mind when designing the CSSD, and we resolved all the issues through the forum. We were also able to reuse much of the groundwork from the other hospitals.”

The project pushed the collaborators to think outside the box, to find long-term, smart choices, and was influenced by both robotics and artificial intelligence.

“At an early stage, we asked ourselves what we could gain from this, and automating the instrument flow seemed like a good way forward in streamlining the work for the staff. This saves time because manual handling of a given step is reduced and there are fewer interruptions,” Mats explains.

Björn Asking, Project Manager at Getinge, is also satisfied with the high quality achieved in the handling of sterile goods thanks to well-organized logistics and workflows.

“As the project ran over several years, an exciting challenge was to anticipate any upcoming technical changes to the machines. Thanks to close dialogue with our development team, we’ve ensured that machine data always complies with the design documentation.”

He points out that “plan the work and work the plan” may sound simple, but still requires a certain understanding between all parties to make it work.

“I think that we’ve done well here and it’s been a great project.”

The staff is extremely happy with the new, functional environment where sustainability has also been taken into account.

“We have bright, attractive rooms where we can work in a smart and ergonomic way. We’ve reduced both energy consumption and waste. Operations haven’t been up and running for that long, but I think we’re spot on with the end result. We’ve optimized the workflow and have standardized processes to rely upon,” says Mats.

He and the staff are passionate about helping to exterminate HCAI, which are often related to surgical instruments.

“Thanks to our system for sterile goods handling and surgical instrument traceability, we can ensure that the right tools are in the right place at the right time, maintaining the highest quality and guaranteed sterility. In addition, we’ve freed up more time for OR staff, which in turn contributes to more surgeries being carried out according to plan, which is extremely important, not least now that we’re facing long surgery queues in the wake of COVID-19,” says Mats.

Solutions for the central sterile supply department:

• Washer disinfectors of the pass-through model S-8668T, which thanks to their ease of filling, maneuvering and maintenance, contribute to increased efficiency. The turbo model has shorter washing processes and minimizes water, detergent and energy consumption.
• Washer disinfector cabinets 9128E.
• Washer disinfector WD14.
• Steam sterilizers for six trays, pass-through model GSS67H. 30% shorter process times and reduced energy consumption.
• AGS 2.0 with return conveyor and hatch.
• CUBO water system.
• CMS central dosing system.
• Packing tables, welding tables, trolleys and sink units.
• T-DOC sterile supply management solution.

This text is intended for an audience outside of the US.