Synopsis
The report's recommendations are directed to the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council for consideration, as responsibility for healthcare delivery in the public hospital system in Australia rests with the various State and Territory health jurisdictions rather than with the Commonwealth.
Despite policy advice from six State and Territory Health authorities against re-use, the Panel confirmed that the practice has been widespread.
The Panel concluded that continuation of the current practice of re-use should not be condoned because of poor quality assurance standards for both cleaning and sterilization found in a representative sample of Australian hospitals and has made a number of recommendations including:
- If the decision of Australian Health Ministers is that no re-use of medical devices labelled as single use be permitted, then either appropriate resources to purchase sufficient single use devices must be provided or a reduction in services be explicitly recognised, or
- If the decision of Australian Health Ministers is to allow continuation of re-use, then until appropriate codes and licensing arrangements (considered in the report) are in place, institutions must comply with a number of measures designed to maximise patient and occupational safety (detailed in the report).
