$1m to fix Grafton Hospital’s steriliser shutdown allegedly stopping surgery
Hospital denies anecdotal reports of stop to surgery as they wait for new equipment coming from overseas to fix issue.
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Sterilisation issues at Grafton Base Hospital will cost around $1 million to fix as members of the public continue to make claims of cancelled operations and problems due to the ongoing failure of equipment.
The Daily Examiner first revealed issues with the sterilisation equipment in February this year when claims of month-long cancellations of surgery due to the failure were reported anecdotally.
Hospital officials said that technicians worked to examine and repair the machines and they were fixed and tested to meet requirements.
However, in April, the Northern NSW Local Health District revealed that the equipment was again experiencing intermittent issues, and said it was affecting around 20 per cent of surgery at the hospital.
They said the machinery was being replaced, and additional surgical instruments are being sourced to supplement the supply at GBH. Extra capacity was also being added at the Lismore Base Hospital sterilising department to provide support, but some surgical cases were being rescheduled.
However, a month on from this statement, members of the community are coming forward, both in correspondence with The Daily Examiner and to local MPs complaining that nothing has changed, with people being told by doctors that operations are not proceeding.
Anecdotally, there have been claims that some operations have been cancelled with people already prepped for surgery due to machine failures, or surgical tools arriving from Lismore sterilisation, wet, or still unclean from previous use.
The Daily Examiner again put the claims to the Northern NSW health service where they revealed the cost of new equipment that is on order to fix the problem.
“Northern NSW Local Health District is investing around $1 million to replace sterilising equipment at Grafton Base Hospital (GBH) following ongoing issues,” Northern NSW Local Health District CEO Wayne Jones said.
“Two new sterilisers are expected within weeks after safely clearing quarantine, with other equipment on order from Italy.
“We wish to assure the community that no affected instruments have been used in any surgical procedures.”
Mr Jones did not respond to questions about whether unclean instruments had caused surgical cancellations, repeating the earlier press release’s line that “additional surgical instruments have been sourced to supplement the supply at GBH in the interim, and extra capacity is being added at the Lismore Base Hospital sterilising department to provide support”.
He denied the claims that many surgeries were being cancelled, and said the majority were progressing as usual, with the remaining fast tracked when new equipment was delivered.
“We apologise to patients whose surgery has been affected and thank them for their understanding. We are working with surgeons and staff to minimise delays,” he said.
Mr Jones said that if any patient awaiting surgery is concerned or believes their condition has changed, they should contact waiting list co-ordinator Jackie Rogan on (02) 6641 8347.
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