Disinfection in bed-pan washers

The degree of bacterial contamination on naturally soiled bed-pans, wash-bowls and urinals in an orthopaedic surgery ward has been studied before and after treatment in automated bed-pan washers with the water temperature in the final rinse above 85 degrees C and below 70 degrees C. In the machines studied, the degree of remaining contamination after treatment with a low-temperature final rinse was considered to be unacceptably high, probably due to an insufficient cleaning effect. In spite of this insufficient cleaning effect, after treatment with the water temperature in the final rinse above 85 degrees C the remaining bacterial contamination was less than one colony-forming unit per square centimetre in bed-pans and wash-bowls and less than 50 microorganisms per urinal. This is considered to be far below an acceptable upper limit.