Medical procedures postponed after NHS Tayside sterilising hub damage

Damage to a Tayside hub for sterilising surgical equipment has led to more than 50 elective procedures being postponed.

NHS Tayside said 43 procedures were cancelled after the ceiling of its central decontamination unit was damaged.

A further 13 procedures were cancelled in Fife, which is also serviced by the unit at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital.

The sterilisation and decontamination unit provides theatre trays to hospitals across Fife and Tayside.

The damage has been repaired but the facility cannot reopen until safety and microbiology testing is carried out later this week.

A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said: "A ceiling in the clean room of the central decontamination unit was accidentally damaged during a repair resulting in a step-down in production at the specialist facility since the weekend.

"All emergency surgery has been maintained to date however some elective surgical procedures have had to be postponed on Monday and Tuesday and we expect a small number of procedures to be postponed on Wednesday."

The board is being supported by decontamination facilities in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lothian and NHS Forth Valley.

NHS Fife said it was working with NHS Tayside and other health boards to secure additional decontamination capacity.

The board apologised to the patients affected.

Claire Dobson, NHS Fife's director of acute services, said: "Unfortunately, today's decision was essential, in order to ensure sufficient clean surgical supplies were available for those with the most urgent clinical need, including medical emergencies and cancer treatments.

"We continue to work with colleagues at NHS Tayside to minimise the impact on our elective procedure programme and ask patients to continue to attend for their scheduled appointment unless they have been contacted by their clinical team.

Last week, health officials warned that units that sterilise surgical equipment in Scotland's hospitals do not have enough capacity to deal with major breakdowns.

Last August, NHS Lothian postponed some operations after a leak in a unit that sterilises surgical equipment.