Centralised Endoscopy Decontamination Department (CEDD)

About Our Service

The successful installation of state-of-the-art facilities at Darlington Memorial Hospital in 2023 heralded the opening of a brand new Endoscopy Decontamination Department which provides a centralised in-house service responsible for carrying out the decontamination of flexible endoscopes (instruments used to examine the interior of the body) used at all County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust acute sites at Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham plus our centre for planned care at Bishop Auckland Hospital..

The team are responsible for disassembling, cleaning, disinfecting, inspecting, reassembling, packaging, despatching, and tracking each endoscope in accordance with strict guidelines and procedures.

Much of the work is delivered manually, although some of their tasks involve the use and operation of highly sophisticated automated machinery and electronic tracking systems.

Working carefully and methodically in a controlled environment, the small, dedicated team of skilled technicians enable six departments across three Trust sites to conduct daily Endoscopy procedures.

The team manages the cleaning and distribution of all endoscopes and tracked at every stage, for full traceability and accountability.

Working to the highest standards, the department is compliant with the requirements of ISO9001:2015 quality system.