Sterile Services Technician
Also advertised as: CSSD Technician, Decontamination Technician, disinfection assistant, SSD Technician, Sterile Processing Technician, Sterile Services Technician
Cleans, sterilises and prepares surgical instruments for reuse in theatres.
What the job involves
Sterile services technicians decontaminate and repackage surgical instruments to strict national standards, ensuring theatres never run short of safe equipment. It is a process-driven role carried out away from patients, but any lapse in standards has direct patient safety consequences. Shift patterns often run early or late to match theatre schedules.
Typical responsibilities
- Decontaminate and inspect surgical instruments
- Operate sterilisation equipment
- Pack and label instrument sets
- Maintain traceability records
- Follow strict infection control standards
Common employers
- NHS sterile services departments
- Private hospitals
Pay, hours and working environment
Typical pay
£22,000 – £25,000 a year
With experience
£26,000 – £29,000 a year
Typical hours
Shift work including early starts to supply morning theatre lists
Working environment
Sterile processing units
Remote working
on_site
Demand for this work
steady
Pay ranges are indicative guidance drawn from advertised UK vacancies and published careers information. They are not an offer, and actual pay varies by employer, location and experience.
Skills and qualifications
Core skills
- Attention to detail
- Following procedures
- Equipment operation
- Quality control
- Teamwork
Transferable skills you may already have
- Process-driven manufacturing or catering hygiene work
- Following safety standards
- Working to deadlines
Requirements employers ask for
- Attention to detail
- Following procedures
- Equipment operation
- Quality control
- Teamwork
- No formal qualification required; on-the-job training given
- Enhanced DBS check
- comply with legislation related to health care
- manage infection control in the facility
- sterilization techniques
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- microbiology-bacteriology
- repackage medical equipment after sterilisation
- infection control
- communicate effectively in healthcare
- work in multidisciplinary health teams
- operate microscope
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- hygiene in a health care setting
Useful but not essential
- Process-driven manufacturing or catering hygiene work
- Following safety standards
- Working to deadlines
- Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Decontamination Sciences
- Experience in a hospital or clinical setting
- communicate in foreign languages with health service providers
- handle chemical cleaning agents
- follow control of substances hazardous to health procedures
- medical informatics
- medical devices materials
- select hazard control
- dispose medical waste
- e-procurement
Helpful qualifications
- Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Decontamination Sciences
- Experience in a hospital or clinical setting
Licences and checks
- Enhanced DBS check
Ways into this career
A degree is only one route. Where an apprenticeship, work-experience or qualification route exists, it is listed here alongside the academic option.
Apprenticeships and work-based routes
- Sterile Services Technician (Level 2)
Degree and college routes
- Related subject: Health and social care
- Related subject: Science
Where this career can lead
next
Senior Sterile Services Technician
next
Sterile Services Supervisor
next
Sterile Services Manager
The good parts and the hard parts
What people enjoy
- No prior qualifications needed
- Essential, stable NHS role
- Clear progression through apprenticeship
What people find hard
- Repetitive process work
- Early or late shifts to match theatre demand
Common questions
- Do you need a degree to become a sterile services technician?
- No. As well as degree routes, this career can be entered through an apprenticeship or by building experience and qualifications on the job. not_required
- How much does a sterile services technician earn in the UK?
- Typical advertised pay runs from £22,000 to £25,000 a year, rising towards £29,000 with experience. Figures are indicative guidance rather than an offer.
- What skills transfer into this career?
- Skills that transfer well include Process-driven manufacturing or catering hygiene work, Following safety standards, Working to deadlines.
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Where this information comes from
- National Careers Service
- Institute for Apprenticeships
Last reviewed 15 September 2026.
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