The former Queen’s Surgeon has claimed north-east health chiefs have failed to act on a “damning report” published more than two years ago.
Professor Zygmunt Krukowski last night spoke for the first time since he was cleared following an inquiry into his conduct at Aberdeen Infirmary Hospital.
His claims come amid a nursing staffing crisis in the region, which has led to the health board cancelling 160 operations in the past two months, including at least 13 since the beginning of January.
An internal document seen by the Press and Journal shows the cancellations will continue in the coming weeks, with a number of procedures scrapped at ARI and Woodend Hospital.
It is understood it was circulated around theatre staff just before Christmas.
Prof Krukowski, who was suspended by the health board after he became one of eight medics to be investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC), claimed health board bosses have failed to act upon the recommendations of a Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) report.
HIS was called into investigate practices at ARI in September 2014 and warned that patients at the hospital were being “put at significant risk” due to staff shortages in the accident and emergency department.
Last night, Prof Krukowski said issues such as the failure to keep hold of experienced staff had not been tackled.
Speaking to the Press and Journal, he said: “The current crisis measures announced by NHS Grampian management on Christmas Eve have led to a huge reduction in general surgical activity equivalent to one in four operations being cancelled. This is due to the lack of operating theatre nurses.
“These nurses are a highly skilled and important part of a surgical team. There is no lack of money for salaries but it has proved impossible to retain some of the most expert nurses.
“This must be disappointing for Malcolm Wright, the chief executive, and Duff Bruce, the clinical lead, who recently described the department as “blossoming”.
“The information obtained from exit interviews with these valuable and experienced nurses should be used to help address outstanding issues not resolved since the damning report on ARI in 2014.”
The internal document lists each day on a spreadsheet, broken down into different specialities, ranging from general surgery to eyes, until the end of the month.
If a day of procedures is going ahead it will be marked as green, if it is cancelled it will be coloured red.
According to the spreadsheet for this month, there are 43 full days and 26 half days which have been cancelled.
While it is unclear how many individual procedures will not go ahead, a well-placed source has said a conservative estimate would place the number well into the hundreds.
They also said the problem would continue for a “significant period”.
The board said last week that the cancellations were a “last resort” due to difficulties in filling nursing vacancies.
It is understood Prof Krukowski is now working with the International Red Cross since his exit from the board.
He, along with seven other consultant surgeons, was cleared by the General Medical Council (GMC) in September following a lengthy probe into their conduct.
Colleague Wendy Craig was also suspended by the health board and quit around the same time as Prof Krukowski.
She is now working in the north-east of England.
The health board has previously apologised for the recent cancellations and has confirmed the operations will be rescheduled.
Health bosses have also said the internal document is a “perfectly appropriate” piece of planning given the staffing issues they are dealing with.
When asked to respond to Prof Krukowski’s claims, a spokeswoman for the board said: “What has never been in doubt is the high standard of patient care or the commitment and dedication of our hard working staff.
“The excellent work undertaken to service the healthcare needs of Grampian and beyond every single day by our thousands of staff from across all disciplines, is something of which we are fiercely proud.
“They do their very best, frequently going above and beyond the call of duty and we are tremendously grateful to them all”.
