Flexible and semi-rigid endoscope processing in health care facilities
A comprehensive standard for the safe processing of flexible and semi-rigid endoscopes in hospitals, endoscopy centers, ambulatory facilities, clinics, and other health care environments. Its goal is to reduce infection and patient-safety risks by establishing consistent practices throughout the entire processing cycle.
The standard covers the full workflow, including point-of-use treatment, transport, leak testing, cleaning, inspection, high-level disinfection and/or sterilization, drying, storage, and quality control. It also addresses processing-area design, personnel training, equipment maintenance, risk management, and continuous quality improvement.
A major theme is maintaining a controlled dirty-to-clean workflow. Processing areas should support unidirectional movement from decontamination through inspection and disinfection/sterilization to storage, with physical separation where practical to reduce cross-contamination.
Another major focus is effective cleaning before disinfection or sterilization. Because flexible endoscopes have complex internal channels and areas that are difficult to inspect, residual soil and biofilm can remain if processing is inadequate. The document emphasizes careful inspection, verification of cleaning, appropriate water quality, proper drying, and adherence to manufacturer instructions for use.
The standard also places strong emphasis on personnel competency. Staff should receive device-specific training covering leak testing, cleaning, inspection, disinfection, sterilization, packaging, storage, equipment operation, workplace safety, cleaning verification, and quality-control documentation. Competency should be reassessed and documented on an ongoing basis.
In short: ST91 provides a framework for making endoscope processing repeatable, verifiable, safe, and quality-controlled, with particular attention to infection prevention, proper facility design, trained personnel, validated processing methods, and documentation.