Orthopedic surgeons refused to do surgeries this week, Eastern Health concedes

Eastern Health has confirmed that it was the decision of orthopedic surgeons to suspend their elective surgeries this week, after three weeks of sterilization issues.

Orthopedic surgeons told Eastern Health in writing on Saturday that they were refusing to handle elective surgeries in the coming week. 

Eastern Health issued a statement Sunday backing the surgeons' decision and cancelling elective orthopedic surgeries for the week, including two on Monday.

 "Looking at their patient population, they felt it would be in the best interest of the patients to withdraw their elective lists and then they directed that to us," clinical chief of surgery Dr. Doug Drover said at a news conference Monday. 

"So, it was actually the decision of the department of orthopedics."

Eastern Health vice-president Oscar Howell said that orthopedic surgeons still found sediment on numerous surgical sets on Friday.

Howell said that while the sediment won't cause infection, they could not use the tools because all joint replacement require a pristine surface.

The health authority said it did not want to backlog surgeries any further by postponing all elective surgeries.

Extra staff hand-washing equipment

Eastern Health says it's been in "a code grey" mode with "all hands on deck" for the past three weeks. 

Last week, 66 surgeries were cancelled because of sterilization issues.

Diamond said they are still seeing black staining on some of the equipment, which  is likely coming off old tools after years of buildup.

He said Eastern Health has brought in several staff from across the province to "repeatedly and aggressively" wash the tools by hand.

"The solution is probably a simple one compared to all the other complexities of our sterilization process but it's very time-consuming and it's labour-intensive," he said.

"We literally have thousands and thousands of pieces of equipment."

The staff will be focusing on washing particularly problematic sets, such as those in orthopedics and women's health, and will be washing more than 6,000 tools.

The problem has cost Eastern Health around $2.7 million so far. Of that sum, $1.3 million has been spent on new instruments, while another $1.3 million was spent on reprocessing existing equipment.

Steve Kent calls situation a 'crisis'

Former health minister Steve Kent says that the cancelled surgeries at Eastern Health have become a "crisis," and is calling on current minister John Haggie to better acknowledge the situation.

• Eastern Health postpones more orthopedic surgeries due to stained kits
• Cost of Eastern Health surgery cancellations rises to $2.7 million

"I think this is a crisis in our health care system," Kent told the St. John's Morning Show, reacting to a series of cancellations that have upset schedules at hospitals in St. John's since the middle of February. 

"While that may sound dramatic to some, we're talking about people's health. We're talking about hundreds of cancelled procedures, and surgery is stressful enough without having to deal with repeated cancellations.".

In an interview Monday, Kent said he is concerned by the "lack of leadership and communication" that he has seen from Haggie and Premier Dwight Ball.

'It requires leadership'

Kent said that Haggie, as a surgeon himself, should be offering "meaningful intervention and involvement."

"I think there's a disturbing pattern here of government and particularly the health minister going dark. Where's the accountability that they've branded themselves with?" said Kent.

"This has been going on for weeks. I think it is a matter of patient safety. It's not about the close to $3 million that has already been spent," he said. 

"The issue seems to be getting worse not better and now a large group of health professionals is expressing concern. It's a crisis. It requires leadership."

Haggie last spoke to CBC in mid-February, when he said cancelling surgeries was "the right thing to do."