First satisfied customers in Belgium and Switzerland

How can a steady supply of sterile goods be maintained while a hospital's CSSD is being refurbished? The answer to this dilemma comes in the form of a mobile, pre-fab unit from Miele Professional, allowing instruments to be safely reprocessed in a three-zone CSSD. All the hospital has to provide is the space, water and electricity. 'First projects in Belgium and Switzerland have already been completed and the feedback from our customers is extremely positive', says Andreas Barduna, Managing Director of Miele's Professional division.

In its simplest form, this mobile CSSD from Miele Professional is a 68 m² modular unit with separate areas for washing and disinfection, packaging and sterile supplies (three-zone concept). Individual modules are prefabricated and can be configured to suit the volume of reprocessed instruments. The basic concept comprises a unit containing 2 large-chamber PG 8528 decontamination units, each with a capacity of 18 mesh trays per cycle, a large 8 STU steam steriliser (PS 5662v) and 4 packaging tables. Where required, extension modules can be used. The project partner for the installation of these pre-fab units and for the equipment they contain is the Dutch Jan Snel company which has many years of successful experience in giving healthcare facilities a modular, temporary home to its name.

The mobile CSSD is erected on available space on the hospital site – usually on a car park. This was the case at the Spital Intercantonal de la Broye (HIB) hospital in Payerne, Switzerland. During the decision-making phase, the balance was tipped by a recommendation by CADES, a commercial purchasing company, which considered the Miele solution ideal. Those responsible at the hospital were extremely satisfied with the outcome: 'Thanks to the excellent cooperation between Miele, CADES and the hospital staff, we never had to interrupt work in CSSD’. The alternative would have been to contract work out to more expensive third-party reprocessing facilities located some distance away from the hospital', reports Elena Ciuca, responsible for reprocessing and instrument sterilisation at the HIB Payerne.

This view is shared by Leon Jackers who, as manager of the apothecary, is responsible for the CSSD at the regional 'Sacred Heart' hospital in Tienen, Belgium: 'Throughout the world, hospitals needing to renovate their CSSD facilities are up against the same problem as ourselves. In most cases, there is no other room suitable for sterilisation within a hospital'. Jackers was also hugely in favour of Miele's solution. After relocating to the new premises, members of staff were already highly familiar with most aspects of their work as the new CSSD was also equipped with medical technology from Miele Professional.

Meanwhile, interest in Miele's mobile CSSD has grown. There are many requests from a variety of countries. Andreas Barduna: 'Given that our approach has stood the test of time, we are currently considering a second unit for use throughout Europe'. Orders from Australia can already be met by a further mobile CSSD which was presented at the end of October at the 17th. World Sterilization Congress (WFHSS) in Brisbane.

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Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washer-extractors and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has 8 production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2015/16 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 3.71 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for around 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 18,400, 10,300 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.