Sterilisation

Abstract

Sterilisation is a support process for the key processes (those that act directly on the patient), essential to the correct working of a health centre. Its importance derives from its being related both to ethical values - protecting users from opportunist infections - and to economic ones, since it minimises the costs of non-quality. The present paper explains the basic concepts for understanding the need for a sterilisation centre, its mission and objectives; the characteristics of the physical structure where the processes are developed of the material to be sterilised; and the methods of sterilisation. The external cycle of the process of the material is described: reception of the material to be sterilised, request, transport, storage, expiry date and control at destination of the sterile material. Finally, a definition is given of the centre's system for guaranteeing quality in safeguarding the persons and processes in terms of structure: measures for protecting personnel and the preventive maintenance of equipment; process: quality controls for the processes of sterilisation; and result: quality indicators of the centre.