Behind the podiatry scenes: Infection Control and sterilisation

Recently I have had an abundance of patients attending our clinic with infections they had obtained through attending nail salons which frustrates and saddens me. Please do not get me wrong – I think nail salons have a wonderful service to offer to people who do not requires medical grade pedicures and do not have medical conditions requiring qualified medical care. What saddens me is that they are providing a service which results in harm to their clients. Their industry is not regulated by the same national standards that we are as Podiatrists.

Every medical and allied health profession must abide by the NHMRC Australian guidelines for the prevention and control of infection in healthcare. These standards are reviewed constantly to make sure that no harm will come to any person requiring medical care. At ProMed we take infection control and sterilisation seriously. Each and every staff member undertakes training regularly to update their knowledge and skills in this area.

What happens before, during and after your appointment?

Lets talk about your podiatry room. Prior to you entering the room a full cleaning process has been performed of the chair, the benches, the instrument tray as well as the floors.

Every instrument used has undergone a rigorous sterilisation process. This involves:

• Manually scrubbing of the instruments to remove all visible debrie with a special cleaning agent.
• The instruments are then placed into an ultrasonic cleaner for higher grade cleaning of the instrument.
• The instruments are then dried and placed into special sterilisation pouches and sealed.
• They are then placed into our steriliser which sterilises the instruments via a combination of heat and pressure to kill any pathogens.
• A new set of instruments is used for every patient

During your appointment you will notice that we wear personal protection equipment. This is to protect you as our valued patient as well as to protect us, your Podiatrist. We will don gloves, apron and mask. These items are all disposed at the end of each consultation. This reduces the risk of infection and contamination.

Other considerations for compliance to achieve high Infection control standards

In addition to the above, we also comply and implement other strategies to monitor our knowledge and infection control standards within the clinic. These include:

• A manual tailored specifically to our clinic based on the national standards which is updated on an annual basis
• Infection control management plan
• Material safety data sheets are available for every product that is present in the clinic.
• Cleaning & maintenance schedules developed specifically for our clinic are diligently adhered to.
• Sterilisation records are maintained accurately
• Hand hygiene certificates completed by all staff
• Sharps disposal in compliance with the National Standards
• Waste management strategies
• Infection control education
• Staff immunisations up-to-date

We are committed to maintaining the highest level of infection control and sterilisation by following the national standards. We regularly undertake Quality Improvement Activities to ensure we are reaching these high standards.

At your next visit, we invite you to talk with our Admin team or your Podiatrist regarding how ProMed implements and maintains high levels of Infection control and sterilisation standards for your protection.

Your health is our focus! Contact us today to book your appointment!