ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), the UAE’s largest healthcare network, has announced the launch of its first specialized upskilling program for employees from its Central Sterilization Services Department (CSSD). The first session was hosted at the Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City’s under the theme of “Sharing CSSD Best Practices”.

Employees and practitioners working in the CSSD play an integral role in the prevention of surgical site and healthcare-associated infections. CSSD oversees and is responsible for sterilizing medical devices and instruments through a variety of policies and processes. The upskilling program featured a curated exchange of knowledge between all employees from the CSSD, who discussed topics such as overcoming challenges concerning the reprocessing of new medical devices, risk assessment in endoscopy decontamination, improving communication with stakeholders, packaging and shelf life of medical devices, inspection practices aligned with CSSD principles, methods and controls of sterilization processes, safety procedures in CSSD, and the importance of point of use preparation.

Commenting on the successful launch of the program, Dr. Zain Ali Al Yafei, Pharmacy and Allied Health Director of SEHA, said: “The CSSD is a critical component of patient services delivery at SEHA and we are very proud to have launched this upskilling program which elevates the provision of exceptional health care for our patients. Within CSSD, we recognize the role of technology, especially with the use of artificial intelligence applications in reducing the spread of infectious diseases, cleaning, disinfection, reprocessing, and sterilization of both medical and surgical equipment. This is to ensure we provide exceptional health care for all our patients. Furthermore, technology plays a key role in genetic sequencing where it benefits CSSD in predicting pathways of microorganisms, as part of our mandate to deliver the most advanced healthcare.”

Dr. Al Yafei added that standard hygiene practices and vaccinations are imperative in protecting the welfare of patients and employees. He reinforced the ever-evolving nature of CSSD field, citing the significance of identifying new practices and applications in response to the emergence of new equipment and medical devices. These new surgical applications include robotic, endoscopic, complex orthopedic and spine devices and equipment. Dr. Al Yafei asserted that sterilizing medical equipment and instruments is a major factor in protecting the health and safety of healthcare professionals and patients alike. Sterilization and safety policies within CSSD, are implemented using physical, chemical and biological methods to monitor high and low temperature sterilization processes to meet both Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health requirements, as well globally recognized standards.