I am seeking information on the sterilisation costs of dental instruments in the NHS dental hospitals and clinics. Specifically:
- The cost of individual cassettes of instruments, how many instruments/tray and how many times/day sterilisation needs to occur.
The Trust has outsourced the contract for the decontamination of surgical instruments to
B Braun Sterilog. Although the vast majority of dental instruments are used in dental departments and community clinics some are used in general and day surgery operating theatres.
Costs range from £1.11 to £60.03 depending on various factors including the number of items per pack, the type of instruments and whether they are for dental departments on hospital sites or clinics in the community, or operating theatres.
The number of instruments per tray is variable dependant on the pack but all packs used in dental department/clinics will contain no more than 25 items. The number in trays used in theatre general and Day surgery theatres are variable.
Packs are collected generally once per day from dental departments and clinics and approximately 4 times per day from operating theatres. The number collected per day is variable, but as an illustration, in August 2017 3,552 packs were sterilised for dental departments and clinics.
- I also need to know the initial set up cost of purchasing an autoclave.
We do not hold this information as this would be purchased by B Braun Sterilog.
- If there is information on how much time it takes for sterilisation nurses from start to finish to complete a tray of instruments that would also be appreciated.
Sterilisation is not undertaken by nurses, but by B Braun Sterilog.
- The number of patients on average are treated at clinics each day would also be vital information.
Number of Patients Breakdown:
Working day average for New Appointments during 2016-17 was 2 patients
Working day average for Follow-up Appointments during 2016-17 was 22 patients
