Equipment failure leads to month-long surgery cancellations at Grafton Base

Authorities state that patients were never at risk as they worked to fix issues that lead to transfer or cancellation of elective surgery

Grafton Base Hospital. Photo Debrah Novak / The Daily Examiner

Issues with steam sterilisers have reportedly halted elective surgery and other routine procedures at Grafton Hospital for the past month.

Reports to The Daily Examiner said that many operations in the past months were either transferred to other hospitals, or cancelled altogether with little explanation.

General Manager Clarence Health Service Dan Madden said that on February 19, issues were detected with the steam sterilisers used in the Grafton Base Hospital surgical department.

"Staff identified the affected equipment as part of their usual checking process, rejected them for use, and ceased using the sterilising machines immediately," he said.

"Technicians began working immediately to examine and repair the machines, including replacing some components.

"The sterilisation machines have now been fixed and tested to ensure they operate to a strict standard to meet infection control requirements."

In reports to The Daily Examiner, some expressed frustration at the length of delays and cancellation, following a long period of a COVID-enforced ban on elective surgery across the state.

Normal elective surgery resumed at the hospital yesterday, and Mr Madden said Grafton Base Hospital assures the local community that no surgical patients had been treated with equipment affected by a sterilisation issue.

>>> RELATED: Will Maclean Hospital lose its surgical ward?

"Additional staffing will be allocated to the Surgical Department in coming months to assist with completing elective surgical procedures," Mr Madden said.

"Grafton Base Hospital assures the local community that no surgical patients have been treated with equipment affected by a sterilisation issue."

With figures for the December 2020 quarter expected within days, the last recorded period of statistics on elective surgery by the Bureau of Health Investigation was from July to September 2020.

There were 652 procedures performed in those three months, with 73.6 per cent of overall surgeries completed on time.

In the urgent and semi-urgent categories, the completed on time percentage were both more than 90 per cent, with non-urgent at 44.6 per cent.

The most common procedure was cataract removal, and it was this type of surgery that is behind, with only 36 per cent of ophthalmology patients having their surgery on time.

By the end of the quarter, there were 1192 patients on the waiting list at the hospital.

The hospital recently opened a new ambulatory care centre, and money was allocated in this year's state budget for an extensive redevelopment of the hospital and services.

Originally published as Equipment failure leads to month-long surgery cancellations at Grafton Base