Aileen Derby

I started working as a CSSD Assistant at Te Kuiti Hospital in February 1981. Te Kuiti Hospital had two operating theatres and six wards. In January 1986
I went to the Theatre Service Centre at Waikato Hospital in January 1986 also as an Assistant. In late December 1986 I moved back to Te Kuiti Hospital to take up the position of CSSD Manager. In January 1989 I moved to Auckland to take up the position of Deputy Manager at Greenlane Hospital. During my 5 ½ years I also held the position of Acting Manager Greenlane / National Women’s Hospital for one year before returning to the Deputy Managers role.

In 1988 / 1989 I had the opportunity to sit and pass the NZSSA Sterilising Technology Course Certificate. This was the first year the course was ever run and it was very a very exciting but nervous time for all the students. In May 1994 I was employed at the Central Sterilising Unit at Waikato Hospital in the Deputy Manager and later the Educator positions. I have been the Sterile Services Unit Service Leader since 1997.

For the past 11 ½ years I have been both the Secretary and President of the NZSSA. Both positions have been very rewarding and I have been fortunate to have worked with very committed and hardworking Executive members.

This year I have a new challenge as an Assessor for the Sterilising Technology Course administered The Open Polytechnic in Wellington.

Secretary
Cathy Rackley
Sterile Services, Dunedin Hospital
Private Bag 1921 Dunedin
Phone: 03 4747 044 Fax: 03 4747 759
Email: cathyr@healthotago.co.nz

I am the Unit Manager of the Sterile Services department at Dunedin Hospital and have been in this role since 1991.

In 1990 I became a member of the then NZSSAP and attended my first conference held in Christchurch. Then in 1991 attained the Certificate in Sterilising Technology and was nominated onto the Executive representing Chapter 5 and I am currently nearing the end of my 3rd term as the NZSSA Secretary.

During this time I have been fortunate to work with a group of dedicated and motivated people.

We continually face challenges in our workplaces to provide best practice within a constantly changing health system: Standards, compliance, quality, technology, education and training. I believe by networking and working together we are better able to face and meet those challenges.

Garry Gorham
CSSD Manager
Level 1 Auckland City Hospital, Auckland
Tel: (09) 307 4949 ext.23418
Mobile: 021 938 846
Fax: (09) 307 4961 (Internal 24130)
Email: garryg@adhb.govt.nz

I joined Sterile Services in 1990 as a Storeman working for Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Throughout my time there I moved through the ranks becoming a Supervisor then to the position of Stores & Transport Officer when the service was Centralised to include Tayside, Fife & Perth & Kinross regions, which at the time made us the only Centralised Department in the UK covering 46 Theatres.

During my time there technology & legislation changed so much with the introduction of various UK & International Standards. I therefore gained an interest in the Quality side of this specialised field. In 1997 I trained to become an Internal Auditor for ISO Standards and assisted the Quality Manager in the implementation of ISO 9001. As I was keen to further my Career in Sterile Services and all the senior posts within Dundee were filled and opportunities were limited, I applied for the vacant post of Quality Assurance Manager in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Fortunately I was successful in my application and this was the start of the road to me ending up in New Zealand.

Again Standards changed again and compliance to ISO 13485 needed to be achieved. I implemented a new Quality Management System and we gained the appropriate accreditation. 18 Months after being in this post the Manager of the unit left to take up a new venture and I took my opportunity to apply for the Managers post. Again, I was successful and have been in a Managers Position since 2001. During the time in Edinburgh we took on the service to Supply St Johns Hospital in Livingston (22 Miles West of Edinburgh) and at this time we became the biggest Unit in Europe, servicing 72 Theatres, Labour Suites, Various Clinics, Health Centres, Dental & GP Surgeries.

Having started at the bottom, I am living proof that a career path is available within this specialised field. I now look forward to hopefully using my previous experience to the benefit of other departments.

Theresa Luke
Central Sterilising Unit, Waikato District Health Board
Private Bag 3200, Hamilton,
Phone: 07 8398 899 , Ext 6876. Fax: 07 8580 989
Email: theresa.luke@waikatodhb.health.nz

I am flattered and honoured to be asked to be an Executive Member of the NZSSA and wish to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the Suppyline Readers. As a member of the Supplyline Team and conference Committee, I hope my contribution will be beneficial to the aim of the Sterilizing industry being accepted on a more professional level by colleagues and healthcare clients.

I started working at Calvary Riverina Health Care (private hospital) in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia in 2006. After being in Australia for 3 years I become very home sick and decided to return home to New Zealand. I’d had my eye on Waikato Hospital before I returned and bugged Aileen for a job for about 6 months, with plenty of patience and persistence a month after returning home I started working at Waikato District Health Board, Hamilton. And haven’t looked back since. This year (2009) I graduated from The Sterilizing Technology Course. I personally found this very rewarding as I’m proof that high school dropouts can be successful.

So currently I am working at Waikato District Health Board, Hamilton as a Senior Technician. My incentive to accept the role of Senior Technician was to help achieve uniformity in departmental sterilizing standards and exceed expectations of my own personal development.

I have previously attended NZSSA conferences and have had the pleasure to meet and get to know some of you personally. I hope to get to know many more of you over the coming years.

Jenny Carston
CSU, Tauranga Public Hospital
Private Bag 12024, Tauranga 3143
Phone: (07) 579 8680
Fax: (07) 578 0719
Email: jenny.carston@bopdhb.govt.nz

I am currently employed as the Team Leader for the Sterile Services Department at Tauranga Public Hospital and have been in the Team Leader role for the last 3 years.

I started working at Tauranga Public Hospital way back in 1996 as a sterile Technician and obtained my Sterilising Certificate in 1998.

In 2004 my husband and my self decided we would like to move to Australia to see how the other half lived and that was where I got the opportunity to take up my first position as Team Leader in a Private hospital in Brisbane known as Sunny bank Private Hospital which was obstetrics hospital and had 5 theatres. After a few months I decided it was time to move on and try a bigger hospital which was Greenslopes Private Hospital which had 12 theatres and ran 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

After only 18months we decided to come back mainly for family reasons so that was when I was lucky to get a job back at Tauranga Public having the Team Leader.

Since been back we have moved into a state of the art department which is a far cry from our old department and with all the new technologies each area has been made easier for us all.

Our latest project I have been working on with other staff members is getting a tracking system in place.

I have also got more involved with Sterilisation with going to the quarter Managers Forum and also attending Steam Meeting held by Kimberley Clark.

I have also been verifier for staff that has been sitting the Sterilisation Papers through the Open Polytechnic. In 2008 I entered the Kimberly-Clark NZSSA Scholarship which I won a trip to Adelaide.

I had to write about something I had been involved in the department in the last year.

This year I obtained my Sterile Service Technician Certificate of Registration.

I am now on the Executive Committee and am looking forward to the next 3 years.

Martin Bird
TSSU Dunedin Hospital
Private Bag 1921, Dunedin
Phone 034740999 ex8481
Email: MartinBird@healthotago.co.nz

Hello, my name is Martin Bird and I work in the TSSU Department in the Main Operating Theatre at Dunedin Public Hospital. I have worked there for the past eleven years.

I gained the New Zealand Service Technology Certificate in 1997 and then completed the Foundation course in sterilization at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, in 1998. I believe that education is an important part in the sterilization Industry as this is an ever changing environment.

I am also a delegate in the PSA and hope to see better pay and condition for people who work within the sterilization industry.

I am looking forward to being on the NZSSA Executive.

Karen Fox
Sterilising Team Leader
Oral Diagnosis & Surgical Sciences
School of Dentistry
PO Box 647
Dunedin
Phone: (03) 4797 038
Fax: (03) 479 7046
Email: Karen.fox@otago.ac.nz

I have returned to the sterile services committee after a break of a few years.

I have worked for the Otago Universities School of Dentistry for the last 16 years, starting of working in the student clinics sterile services unit. After two years in this area I sat and passed the Sterilising technology course. I then was given an opportunity to take over the Theatre, Oral surgery and Urgent care unit’s sterile services area. This was a great opportunity and gave me the chance to take on a supervisory role and run an area with the skills I had learnt over the previous 4 years. I have had a lot of change over the past years going from a team of one to now having a team of 8, and a very much expanded area of responsibility.

This year has been very challenging, but also exciting because we have just had a major upgrade to our unit. We now have a decontamination room with Washer/disinfector that has double doors; we have a beautiful Inspection, assembly and packing area which also has a double doored Steriliser. Our sterile store area is a huge improvement to what we had previously and an increase in staffing from 3-4 staff to 8-9 staff. We are all very proud of the whole unit!! We also have combined two sterilising units into one, which has taken quite a lot of planning and training for all our staff. This has also meant more work, and more complicated instrumentation.

I have had one other very exciting thing happen about 6 weeks ago. We have a new family member. His name is Storm and he’s a miniature fox terrier. Very crazy, but so cute, and very entertaining!!

I am looking forward to the challenge of being back on the sterilising committee and look forward to having contact with our members.