Decontamination in Hospitals and Healthcare

Dr Jimmy Walker worked as a Scientific Leader in water microbiology and decontamination at Public Health England (PHE), Porton UK. He has 30 years’ experience in public health microbiology with an extensive publication record, and regularly attended national and international scientific conferences. His particular interests were the presence of opportunistic pathogens in hospital water systems and advised hospitals on incidents and outbreaks associated with waterborne pathogens such as Legionella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacteria spp. He worked closely with the Department of Health (DH England) and Health and Safety Executive in writing and developing national and international guidance on the microbiology of water and decontamination in healthcare.

• 1. The importance of decontamination in hospitals and healthcare2. The history of decontamination in hospitals3. Quality and supply of water used in hospitals4. Control of Legionella in hosptial potable water systems5. Waterborne transmission of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 6 Mycobacteria chimaera infections and their transmission from  heater-cooler units 7 Decontamination of hand washbasins and traps in hospitals 8 Infection control in Europe 9 The role of the nurse in decontamination  10 The role of protective clothing in healthcare and its decontamination 11 Cleaning and decontamination of the healthcare environment12 Biocides and decontamination agents including sporicides for decontamination in hospitals 13 The role of antimicrobial surfaces in hospitals to reduce  healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) 14 Use of gaseous decontamination technologies for wards  and isolation rooms in hospitals and healthcare settings 15 An overview of automated room disinfection systems:  When to use them and how to choose them 16 Testing strategies and international standards for disinfectants  17 The role of standards in decontamination 18 Decontamination of prions 19 Decontamination of dental devices in the hospital and general  dental practice setting 20 An overview of current surgical instrument and other medical device decontamination practices  21 Efficacy of current and novel cleaning technologies (ProReveal) for assessing protein contamination on surgical instruments 22 Decontamination of flexible endoscopes23 Sterilization of flexible endoscopes  24 Future trends in decontamination in hospitals and healthcare