Specialist doctors in Preventive Medicine and Public Healthcare carry out community and extra-hospital Public Health tasks (healthcare administration, epidemiology, promotion and education for public healthcare, quality and patient safety), which in the United Kingdom come under “Public Health” and “Santé Publique” in France. Other specialists carry out their hospital duties, generally in small-sized units with one or two Preventive Medicine (PM) specialists. Their portfolio of services is defined by Circular 3 of 1980 (C3/1980), where the classic functions of epidemiology, infection control, hygiene and sanitation are defined. Over time, the tasks of clinical and epidemiological research have been added, along with care quality, patient safety, travel vaccinations and medicines, as well as providing support to healthcare centre management team. Cleaning, disinfection and healthcare product sterilization comprise the primary, most efficient elements to break the epidemiological chain of nosocomial infection. Reprocessing Units for Medical Devices (RUMED) contribute to the hospital’s general aseptic and antisepsis process. The presence of PM specialists in these departments is disparate in Spain, in spite of the Circular’s section on hygiene and sterilization listing the Sterilization regulations. Their absence is due partly the fact that this task was traditionally carried out by the nursing staff in these Units or theatres, as well as the scarce availability of doctors and nursing staff in the hospital PM units, meaning they prioritise part of their time to nosocomial infection. Unlike France, the figure of «Pharmacien Hospitalier» (hospital pharmacist) does not exist in the Spanish RUMED. Royal Decree 1591/2009 implementing the Directive 2007/47/CE of the European Parliament of 5 September 2007, opens up the possibility of a greater collaboration of PM doctors with these units, as they can assume the position of Technical Director or Technical Manager. While the Supervision and Management of the RUMED should be carried out by nursing staff, performing these duties of supervision, assessment, control and systematic review are reprocessing stages for all healthcare devices, the daily management of RUMED by the Nursing Supervision includes the request of material resources, management of records and documentation generated, analysis and assessment of indicators, resolution of incidents and organisation of human resources. Their collaboration and participation in RUMED staff training is essential in order to offer safe, quality products. For his/her part, the PM doctor in their role as Technical Director, becomes an assessor, consultant and collaborator of the Nursing Supervisor and is responsible for guaranteeing compliance with the current regulations and legislation; participating in the preparation of operating manuals and protocols, in the choice of cleaning, disinfection and sterilizing equipment and materials; supervising the quality management system and auditing all the processes; is the contact person for healthcare authorities for informing them of incidents; manages the procedures for obtaining an Operating Licence (where applicable) and participates in those tasks required of them by the RUMED or management. Thus an area of multidisciplinary cooperation and work is opened with this Service, with the aim of ensuring a safe and quality product.
Other texts in: Matachana Magazine
Dr. Juan José Criado-Álvarez is author of the “El Autoclave”, a blog about cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing healthcare devices, a pioneering blog in the Spanish language. Recently, his portal has been awarded the WIS quality certification from “PortalesMedicos.com”.





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