Hospitals 'used dirty instruments'
December 06, 2007
Surgeons at hospitals in Surrey and south London have used potentially contaminated equipment when carrying out operations on patients, it has been revealed.
The BBC reports that eight patients have been operated on with instruments that could potentially be contaminated after the full sterilisation process for the instruments was not carried out properly.
Apologising for the incident a spokesman for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The Health Protection Agency has confirmed the process was enough to destroy any blood-borne viruses like HIV and hepatitis, as well as infections like MRSA.
"However something like tetanus might not have been destroyed."
The eight patients involved in the incident, which involved faulty seals on some instrument packs, may now need further tests, but medical director Dr Lindy Steven insisted that the threat of cross-infection is "extremely low".