Dirty surgical tools blamed on staff, workload

An external review of sterilization procedures at a Kamloops, B.C., hospital is blaming novice staff and more surgeries for a series of incidents involving improperly sterilized surgical tools.

Joanne Konnert, the vice-president of tertiary services for Interior Health, says the Royal Inland Hospital has taken on 15 per cent more cases in the past four years.

"Of that increase, almost half of those were orthopedic procedures, which are quite complex and have lots of instruments associated with them," said Konnert.

"So not only are the number of cases increased, but the complexity and the numbers of instruments that the central sterilization department has to clean has also increased as well," she said.

The report conducted by Sullivan Healthcare Consulting recommends renovations to the sterilization unit, something local politicians have already been calling for.

It also says the department needs closer supervision, because a large number of the staff have less than three years of experience.

In February, bone and glue fragments were found on surgical tools, forcing the hospital to cancel elective surgeries for a week.

A police investigation into a second incident in April, which appeared to involve intentional contamination of other tools, wrapped up without any charges being laid in June.