Saturday, May 23, 2026

11:20 - 12:05

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Details

Reprocessing reusable medical devices is one of the highest-risk activities performed in general practice, with direct implications for patient safety, staff safety, and clinical quality. To recognise consistent national benchmarks across healthcare settings, the RACGP has updated the reprocessing section of its Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Guidelines to align with the Australian Standard AS 5369: Reprocessing of reusable medical devices in health and non-health related facilities. These updates establish a clear, evidence-based benchmark for safe and compliant reprocessing across general practices. A key change is the introduction of a risk-based framework requiring practices to document structured, repeatable risk assessments for all reprocessing activities, which will become an auditable requirement under Standards for general practices (6th edition) from 1 January 2028. Additional updates include the mandatory use of a washer-disinfector for pre-cleaning, clarified requirements for dedicated or segregated reprocessing areas, defined timeframes for initial device treatment, structured training and competency expectations, and strengthened requirements for traceability, validation, and outsourced reprocessing arrangements. This presentation will outline the updated requirements, practical implementation considerations, and RACGP support available to assist practice owners in embedding safe, effective, and nationally aligned reprocessing systems.

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Speaker