Surgical instruments crisis ‘costs £140k’

SURGICAL instruments from Glasgow hospitals are being sent 200 miles away to be sterilised – at a cost of at least £140,000, an NHS whistleblower claims.

It comes after the main centre that sterilises equipment for the city’s closed because it failed a safety inspection.

Surgical equipment is being taken by truck to a centre in Greater Manchester to be cleaned and returned. Our source said it is costing about £70 per tray of instruments and there are more than 2000 trays involved.

The whistleblower said: “The trucks are coming up all the time but even the main hub in Greater Manchester is struggling to cope with the volume.”

This month, the Record revealed that operations in Glasgow had to be cancelled because the Cowlairs decontamination unit centre in Springburn, which supplies city hospital theatres and clinics with surgical equipment, closed.

About 120 staff were dispatched to smaller facilities to deal with the sterilising backlog. And contractors Steris have been brought in to help.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde wouldn’t comment on the whistleblower’s claims. But they said of Cowlairs: “Our infection control environmental testing is continuing. As soon as this is completed, we will begin bringing the unit back into full production.

“We are working with other health boards to ensure our emergency, trauma and urgent cases are prioritised.”

“We sincerely apologise for the ongoing disruption to our patients and we will seek to reschedule them for surgery at the earliest opportunity.”