Why Single Use?

Department Efficiencies Saving Time

Time allocated to manage all stages involved with reprocessing, such calculations are not taken into consideration when looking at the cost benefits of single use & reprocessing, especially delays resulting in instruments returned not fit for purpose, damaged or just missing off the trays.

Additional hidden cost is the number of clinical staff hours wasted chasing or tracing instruments on a daily basis.

• Counting , checking & tracing instruments
• Instrument damage (delicate instruments)
• Instrument repairs and trays off-line
• Time wasted looking or waiting for instruments
• Opening trays to obtain one instrument (not viable!)

Tray instrument management can lead to delays in theatre lists and appointments, creating additional pressures on clinical teams and delays within departments and the consequent effect to patients.

Department Efficiencies Saving Time

• Complexities of reprocessing medical instruments can never be underestimated, along with costs calculations, traceability history and use, logistical instrument management moving between sites, the list goes on.
• Area of concern continuously raised by clinical teams, the loss or damage of instruments returned on trays holding up clinics & theatres and is among the 10 most frequent causes of delays to operating theatres.
• Opening additional tray to source one instrument, is a common hidden cost and a premium compared to single use instruments.
• Single use instruments correctly designed and costed should provide a healthcare practitioner with all the benefits in ensuring that a patient is being treated with a device or instrument that is truly fit for its intended purpose, in addition to all the other sterile benefits.

Remove Risk & Cost of Cross Infection

• There is always a risk as no institution can guarantee 100% success rate when reprocessing surgical instruments.
• Single Use can remove all such risks, with little expenditure
• Healthcare costs increase significantly treating a surgical site infection and reduce capacity to treat other patients

Hidden Costs of Reusable Surgical Instruments

• Cost calculations of reusable surgical instruments ideally would reflect the cost of the instrument divided by the number of times it can be used (+) cost of reprocessing (+) clinical staff time logging, tracing, chasing instruments (+)costs of repair within instruments lifetime, however this is an inaccurate calculation for many reasons.
• Sterilisation of instruments requires a high level of energy consumption including environmental impacts of harsh detergents.
• logistical and logging errors result in instruments been lost in transit, an everyday challenge associated with using reusable instruments.
• Managing the journey of reusable surgical instruments , from theatres to sterilisation unit and then hopefully returning back the following day, this is the area clinical teams are continuously flagging instruments go missing (thereby negating the cost benefit of buying reusable products in the first place).
• Efficacy of reusable surgical instruments over a period of time add substantial hidden costs and identifiable risks with their use. Surgical instruments perform differently and not as effectively e.g 20th time compared to when new.