Dates on pouches

Hi all, so, all bagged instruments which are bagged now have a year expiry date on and one in covered tray, but one week in covered tray out of clinical area.....?

So, we all have instruments which are sometimes not used that often? so great, one year! prior to the change they were all dated 21 days and checked regulary for their expiry dates and at the at the end of the day all our instruments used to be autoclaved and placed on clean metal trays and the whole thing was then pouched and dated for 21 days. These were then slid into puporse built cabinate shelving in the surgeries. I'm now confused! Is it still acceptable to pouch the whole trays like this and still store them in surgeries with a one week validation or do we have to find additional space to store in a non-clinical area and then give them a year validation date as they are still sterile and pouched!? I'm just interested to know what everyone is doing and apart from the dentist being away thery will be used the next day anyway and if the Dentist is away for 2 weeks, then the whole lot will have to be re sterilised and covered before their return?
I'm just trying to get my head round it all. It's this clinical, non-clinical area which is causing confusion i think and i don't think i am alone in Dental Practices storing instuments in surgery areas in cupboards (pouched and validated of course)
Thanks Dental Nurses i look forward to your replies!

Hi, I'm in Northern Ireland, our HTM 01-05 rules are horrible!! We can not store any instrument (after the end of the day session) unless it has been through washer/ disinfector, inspected under light with magnifying glass, bagged and vacuum sterilized. Its either do this or come in an hour earlier in the morning and sterilize them then. I REALLY don't understand why everyone has different guide lines. Really they should give us all the same SIMPLE rule to follow.

yeah I love that England Scotland wales and northern Ireland all are different timescales for bagged insts.
we must have different bugs lol

Hello,
In the HTM 01-05 2013, it is clearly stated what we should do regarding bagging instruments and how /for how long we should keep them before reprocess them.
CQC are working after the HTM 01-05 so the information there will be correct, until next edition (or correction). There are local exemptions but they are just as it says, local or in the case of manufacturers instructions .

As you know there was a 21 and a 60 day rule for bagged sterilised instruments, so one year is a great improvement in time, saves time and of course money.
I can't really see the need to not rely on the information given in HTM 01-05 2013. (as I mentioned above:unless local rules/manufacturers, says different).

Hey girlies/boys!
I spoke to someone regarding this and she said to check with the CQC as basically, pouches can only be left bagged for a year if out of all clinical areas INCLUDING DECON ROOM!
I think its safer for (CQC, Patients and US) to stick to the 21 day rule to be honest, especially if unsure!

Hi has any one come up with a good working format for instruments that are stored unbagged for a week in non clinical areas. Im trying to think of a good way to monitor the re-sterilisation of them. obviously dates on bags were a lot simpler to monitor.

thanks shame i'm in wales

Hello,
Yes, the rules are for England.
All can be found in the HTM 01-05, 2013 edition. It is new and have some changes so the old 'lawbook' can be put aside now.

hi are the rules for England and wales

yes it has changed now to one year if bagged, 1 day if in covered tray and one week if in covered tray out of a clinical area eg decon room (however this makes no sense as decon room has a dirty side...) the idea i imagine is that it is away from aerosols

Dates on pouches Is it true in England its once a year but wales every 21 day still I am confused