The Central Sterilising Department was able to demonstrate their latest acquisition recently, the Getinge Marking Solution, which takes marking and tracking trays and instruments to a new level.

Bendigo Health instrument technician Jason Baker said the new equipment enabled staff to carry out state-of-the-art marking with 2D matrix.

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"We're not burning the metal, we're sealing a coating on top which minimises pitting and damaging the equipment," he said.

CSD manager Darren Martin said the old fashioned way of engraving would affect the passivation layer of the instruments, influencing its longevity.

This new laser marking process will see every instrument given an individual barcode.

"It will be trackable to every patient it's used on, how many times it's been used, where it's been used, and its history including repairs and maintenance," Mr Martin said.

"All of those details will be stored electronically and are retrievable through the tracking system."

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CSD has already started marking tray tags and will move to single-use instruments.

There are now 1500 trays which could contain 20 to 50 instruments at a time, but adding in all departments and outside organisations, some 280,000 items can move through CSD.

"With the new system, whether it be into the decontamination process to the washers to being repacked for sterile storage and then to the patient, this is scanned and followed through every step of the process," Mr Baker said.

As an example, Mr Martin pointed to one scalpel and said there would come a point in time when staff would know every patient that instrument had been used on.

CSD representatives said they were extremely grateful the equipment was paid for by the Bendigo Health Fundraising and Foundation.

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