Surgical throughput increased with help of a new CISA Autoclave

Tipperary is well known for its relationship with horses. It’s no surprise that it is also home to the country’s most renowned equine hospital, Fethard Equine Hospital (FEH). This one-of-a-kind facility is a reference site for veterinary services throughout the country and they care for some of the best racehorses in Ireland.

Today with two operating theatres and a growing team of specialised surgeons and nurses, the hospital caters for up to 30 surgeries a day. In the context of continuous growth Tara Roche, Head Veterinary Nurse, approached Manepa Medical to replace an old steam autoclave.

Project snapshot

With the increasing demand for surgical operations, Fethard Equine Hospital needed a new autoclave to cater for this customer need. Their old autoclave was becoming unreliable with extended sterilisation cycles, resulting in a slowdown in the turnover of medical instruments.

New Cisa autoclave installed at Fethard Equine Hospital by Manepa Medical

What we delivered

Manepa Medical installed a Cisa steam steriliser autoclave P-3690 with a 218 litres capacity chamber (3 STU’s). The company also provides the servicing and repair of the new autoclave as well as supporting another Cisa autoclave and a Getinge brand washer. On installation, the team quickly got used to the new machine. Being similar to the one they already had in situ meant the team didn’t require any additional training.

Operational goals

Needless to say the team is busy from an operational point of view, with planned surgeries and 24-hour ambulatory service. There are many challenges to ensure everything runs smoothly but the provision and maintenance of surgical equipment is Tara’s biggest challenge. The team must manage a variety of pre-made instrument kits for specific surgeries, as well as hundreds of other instruments, all of which are individually packed and provided for multiple surgeons. After every use, the surgical kits and instruments must be cleaned, dried, packed, sterilised, and then stored or re-used immediately. Without fast and reliable machines, then the entire operational chain is impacted.

Surgical instruments stored in medical pouches ready for the next surgery

Outcomes

With the new CISA autoclave in place, the team can achieve a higher throughput of instruments. Sterilisation cycles now take approximately 25mins compared to 45mins before. The time gained enables more surgeries down the line. In addition to improved cycle time, there are some other very helpful features for the team. According to Tara “the machine counts down the time remaining on each cycle, which is particularly helpful when you have a surgeon waiting.”

Last but not least for Tara and the team, Fethard Equine Hospital now have just one point of contact for the full support of all 3 of their decontamination and sterilisation machines bringing peace of mind they have the appropriate support in place in case anything happens.

About Fethard Equine Hospital

Fethard Equine Hospital (FEH) is a purpose-built state-of-the-art facility established in 2007.  Since its inception, FEH has become a renowned specialist referral and first-opinion veterinary centre for horses throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe. Tara Roche is the Head Veterinary Nurse at Fethard Equine Hospital and kindly agreed to answer a few questions to build this customer story. Her job consists of the management of the nursing team, the care and maintenance of the hospital’s equipment and assisting in the surgical and medical care of their patients.

About Manepa Medical

At Manepa we have 50 years of experience in decontamination and sterilisation equipment. Our team is fully qualified and experienced to design, install, validate and service any piece of decontamination equipment for hospitals, life-science, and community healthcare sectors. Have a question regarding your washer disinfector? Have a specific challenge in your sterile service department? Just get in touch, our team will be happy to help.