Project doubles hospital’s endoscopy capacity

Chris Beric RPEQ, CPEng, MIEAust, NER, a Building Engineering and Maintenance (BEMS) engineer at Townsville Hospital and Health Service in Queensland, Australia, describes the healthcare engineering aspects of a complex project to redevelop and expand the Endoscopy Department at Townsville University Hospital.

In 2018-2019, the Endoscopy Department at Townsville University Hospital (TUH) was redeveloped and expanded to meet contemporary healthcare delivery requirements. This article will review the endoscopy project from a healthcare engineering perspective – including the challenges involved with construction, commissioning, and operation. A key aspect of the project involved achieving compliance with AS/NZS 4187, which is the governing standard for the reprocessing of reusable medical devices (RMDs) in health organisations. The Endoscopy Department has an integrated reprocessing area for cleaning and sterilising endoscopes between procedures, which is a specialised activity that requires significant infection control considerations. AS/NZS 4187 was updated and released in 2014. The Australian Commission of Safety and Quality issued an implementation deadline which required hospitals to deliver compliance with this revised standard by December 2021.

Project background