Discoloured tools leads to more cancelled surgeries at Cambridge hospital
Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) is cancelling more surgeries this week due to discoloured tools.
On Tuesday, CMH officials said 17 surgeries were cancelled after the technicians who disinfect, sterilize and reprocess its surgical instruments noticed a discolouration on the tools.
“It wasn’t all instruments. It was a certain number of instruments,” Stephanie Pearsall, vice president of clinical services and chief nursing executive at CMH, said Wednesday.
An additional 17 elective surgeries were cancelled on Wednesday and another 25 will be cancelled on Thursday, according to hospital staff.
Pearsall said the move is “to prioritize the instruments that were not discoloured for priority cases such as cancer or anything urgent or emergent.”
Pearsall said even though only elective surgeries were cancelled – it still impacts patients.
“While it may not be life-threatening it is a huge impact on patient's lives. They may have taken off work. They may be having some pain. They've waited for a long time for these surgical procedures. So we're very, very, very sensitive to that and committed to getting those patients rescheduled as quickly as we can,” said Pearsall.
DISCOLOURED TOOLS
Staff said they’re still in the process of testing their tools after the discolouration was noticed earlier this week.
“As soon as we noticed it [the discolouration], we removed the instruments. They did not go into the operating room,” Pearsall said on Tuesday.
Pearsall said here’s no chance any discoloured instruments were used in surgery.
An external party has been brought in to investigate the cause and second external party has been brought in to handle the reprocessing.
“We have instruments going in for testing at external labs. We have water that’s going in for testing. So that’s where we sit now,” she said on Wednesday.
The hospital plans to make a decision by Thursday afternoon on if they can resume elective surgeries on Friday.
“That is our goal,” Pearsall said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
4 charged with manslaughter, forcible confinement in Burnaby 19-year-old's death: IHIT
More than a year after a Burnaby man was killed during a home invasion, charges have been laid against four suspects for their alleged involvement in the fatal incident.
Ottawa woman dies after battle with pancreatic cancer
An Ottawa woman who raised more than $500,000 for cancer research at the Ottawa Hospital has died after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
Northern Ontario beekeeper says she lost nearly 2 million bees this season
CTV News Northern Ontario provides and update on the story of more than 1.5 million bees be lost earlier this summer.
How a false rumour about pets in Ohio and Laura Loomer’s presence helped derail Trump’s planned attacks on Harris
Donald Trump wanted to spend this week attacking one of Democratic rival Kamala Harris' biggest political vulnerabilities. Instead, he spent most of the week falsely claiming that migrants are eating pets in a small town in Ohio and defending his embrace of a far-right agitator whose presence is causing concern among his allies.
Andrew Scheer avoids answering if Conservatives will cancel dental care program
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer won't say whether his party will scale back or fully scrap Canada's federal dental care program, despite new data showing nearly 650,000 Canadians have used the plan.
'We're at a high degree of spread': What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ontario
As we head into another respiratory illness season, here’s a look at where Ontario stands when it comes to COVID-19 and what you need to know.
A landslide triggered a 650-foot mega-tsunami in Greenland. Then came something inexplicable
It started with a melting glacier that set off a huge landslide, which triggered a 650-foot high mega-tsunami in Greenland last September. Then came something inexplicable: a mysterious vibration that shook the planet for nine days.
Staff member hospitalized after assault at B.C. maximum security prison
A corrections officer at B.C.'s only maximum security federal prison was taken to hospital after an assault earlier this month.
Jane's Addiction concert ends early after Perry Farrell throws punch at Dave Navarro
A scuffle between members of the groundbreaking alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction came amid 'tension and animosity' during their reunion tour, lead singer Perry Farrell’s wife said Saturday.