A cupboard of pouches and a folder of printouts
A podiatry clinic goes through instrument packs all day: nippers, files, scalpel handles and probes for each routine patient. Packs are cleaned, pouched, run through the autoclave and dated. The cycle printout or data logger file goes in a folder. On a busy day, the pouch label is handwritten and the podiatrist may or may not note which pack went to which patient.
Domiciliary podiatrists carry packs in the car for a whole round. When a pack is opened in a patient's living room, the record of which cycle it came from is usually nowhere.
Why tracing is so patchy
- Pouch labels are handwritten, so batch and cycle details are inconsistent.
- Cycle printouts and data logger files are kept separately from anything that links them to packs.
- Linking a pack to a patient means writing it in the notes, which is easy to skip.
- Home visit packs leave the clinic and are used days later.
- Routine checks your procedures require on the autoclave and washer are recorded on paper sheets, if at all.
- Packs past their storage date are found by chance.
What patchy records cost
If a cycle is ever questioned, the clinic cannot say which patients' instruments were in it. Inspections and insurer questions take longer to answer. Packs are re-processed unnecessarily because their date is unclear, or used past the date your procedures allow. And staff spend time filling in paper logs that nobody can search.
| Question you may be asked | Paper answer | With pack tracing |
|---|---|---|
| Which patients had instruments from this cycle? | Hours of searching, if possible | A search by cycle |
| Which cycle did this patient's pack come from? | Rarely known | Shown on the appointment |
| Were the routine autoclave checks done? | Paper sheet, maybe | Dated record by person |
| Which packs are near their storage limit? | Found by chance | Listed each morning |
How we build pack tracing
- Each pack gets a printed label with a code when it is pouched, showing its contents and the date, instead of handwriting.
- When a load goes into the autoclave, the packs are scanned against that cycle, and the cycle's printout or data logger file is attached to it.
- Routine checks your procedures require, such as daily or weekly tests, are logged on a tablet in the decontamination area, with a reminder if one is missed.
- At the appointment, the podiatrist scans the pack with a phone or tablet, and it is linked to the patient and appointment in Cliniko, WriteUpp or your system.
- Home visit packs are booked out to the podiatrist's round, and scanned at each house on the phone, which works without signal and syncs later.
- Packs approaching the storage limit your procedures set are listed for re-processing.
- Clinical waste collections and their paperwork can be logged in the same place, so all the decontamination records sit together.
Decontamination procedures, test frequencies and storage limits are set by you under the guidance you follow. We build the records around them and do not advise on them.
What changes in the decontamination room
Labels are printed and consistent. Cycles, checks and packs are linked. Any question about a cycle or a patient can be answered from a search. Home visit packs are as traceable as clinic ones. And the paper sheets on the wall are replaced by records that are easy to show when asked.
Is this your decontamination paperwork?
- Pouch labels are handwritten.
- Autoclave printouts are kept in a folder with no link to packs.
- You could not quickly list which patients had instruments from a given cycle.
- Home visit packs are not traced to patients.
- Routine autoclave checks are logged on paper.