Abstract
Delivering a safe standard of patient care is paramount to perioperative practitioners. One key component to achieving this goal is the efficient and effective decontamination of surgical instruments. In 2002 English standards were published for the decontamination of medical devices and a National Decontamination Programme established, forming part of the government's strategy for investment to improve services in England and to ensure such standards were met. The investment resulted in the development of joint ventures between the NHS and independent providers (supercentres) for the provision of decontamination services to clusters of hospitals. However, some acute trusts continue to invest in their own local services, but all sterile service providers must be compliant with the Medical Devices Directive (MDD) or Healthcare Commission (HCC) audit programmes.