Raigmore Hospital may soon be able to restart back operations that have been postponed because it could not guarantee the equipment was clean.
Retired nurse Nancy Cuthbert was horrified when staff at the Inverness hospital said they could not carry out her spinal operation because they could not be sure the specialist surgical tool they needed to use was sterile.
The 60-year-old from Cromdale, near Grantown, suffers excruciating pain from her condition, which is similar to a slipped disk, and said it was “so frustrating” to be told she could not have the operation due to the cleanliness situation.
However, Worcester-based Mercian Surgical – the supplier of the “super-slide laminectomy retractor” used to separate human tissue during spinal operations – has now issued new cleaning and sterilising instructions for the tool.
And an NHS Highland spokesman yesterday said the health board was considering whether it would now be able to clean the equipment properly.
He said: “NHS Highland currently has three patients waiting for surgery that has been postponed as a consequence of the safety issues with the Mercian super-slide.
“The supplier has issued decontamination procedures. However, we are currently in the process of confirming that NHS Highland will be able to comply with these.”
The Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency previously advised surgeons to stop using the tool.
But it was yesterday displaying a letter from Mercian on its website, along with the new decontamination instructions.
The letter from the supplier states: “We have previously advised that our cleaning and sterilising instructions could not guarantee the complete removal of contaminants from the instrument, that there was a potential hazard of contaminants remaining between the plates on the retractor head and a potential risk of transfer of contaminants between patients.
“We now have new instructions for cleaning and sterilising the retractor, with instructions for dismantling and re-assembly of the retractor frame. These allow the frame head to be effectively decontaminated and remove the hazards referred to on our previous communication.”
The company says the results of this method of cleaning have been validated by laboratory testing and states that it is now safe to resume use of the tool.