Elective surgeries, procedures to resume on Thursday: LHSC

Following a brief hiatus over concerns involving surgical trays, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) announced Wednesday that elective surgeries and procedures are set to resume.

According to a release, LHSC identified that the light staining found on surgical trays earlier in the week was a result of the steam system used to process surgical equipment at University Hospital.

The health authority said they had concerns that it could impact additional sites, so the decision was made to stop processing equipment for a period of time in order to test all systems.

As a result, LHSC had made the announcement on Tuesday that all elective surgeries and some procedures would be cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to LHSC, this decision allowed for a complete and thorough investigation, while all trays without stains were redirected for use in urgent and emergent surgeries.

“After addressing the root cause, we are confident that the trays are safe for use,” LHSC said in a statement. “The team is now working to get all equipment back online to ensure that all sites have the tools necessary to perform all surgeries and procedures starting tomorrow [Thursday].”

LHSC said they are working “as quickly as possible” to reschedule surgeries, and any patient whose procedure was impacted will be contacted by their care team in order to reschedule.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision to make by our team. We understand that the pause on elective and scheduled surgeries and procedures is stressful and disappointing for our patients and caregivers,” said Tammy Quigley, system innovation and business development executive at LHSC. “While brief, we believe that it was necessary to investigate and ensure our patients receive the safest care possible.”