200 heart op patients at risk of deadly bug

HEART surgery patients have been told they may be at risk of a potentially deadly bug.

Almost 200 people are being contacted ‘as a precaution’ amid fears they may have contracted a bug that infected six people.

The revelation is the latest hospital health scandal to hit Scotland’s NHS following patient deaths in Glasgow.

The new disclosure was made by NHS Lothian bosses who are now contacting patients who had aortic heart valve replacement operations at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in the past six months.

A probe was launched after one patient was found to have a rare and potentially fatal heart valve infection that was deemed ‘unusual’ because it was caused by bugs commonly found in the environment.

An incident management team was set up and conducted an ‘extensive review’ of the infection records of thousands of patients who had many different types of surgery carried out since the beginning of 2015.

The team found that six patients over a period of 18 months contracted infections caused by a variety of micro organisms commonly found in the environment.

NHS Lothian said it believes these ‘may have been acquired during surgery’. Of the patients affected, an undisclosed number have died.

Four planned surgeries have been cancelled as a ‘precaution’ to allow for disinfection of the theatres used.

A total of 186 patients who had heart valve replacements at the hospital are now being contacted.

Professor Alex McMahon, NHS Lothian executive lead for infection control, said: ‘The risk is very low and we do not anticipate any more cases, however it can take up to six months for these infections to materialise. We want to make sure those patients know what symptoms to be aware of.

‘Many patients receiving this type of surgery are already vulnerable to infection, so we place the highest importance on a stringent infection prevention and control regime.’

Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘This has been the latest in a string of catastrophic failures of infection control in hospitals.

‘It is of vital importance that processes in the healthcare environment are reviewed and improved.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘While the risk of infection is low, it is important that [patients] follow the advice given by NHS Lothian.’