Fears over whether vCJD, the devastating human form of mad cow disease, can be transmitted via surgical instruments have led doctors at a Plymouth hospital to cancel operations.
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Patients waiting for tonsil and adenoids operations have been told that they will have to wait a few weeks before disposable surgical instruments become available, because of what a consultant calls a “very small and theoretical risk” they could catch vCJD.
The cost of providing disposable instruments for tonsil surgery is estimated to be around £25m a year. The government announced earlier this month that it was preparing to spend £200m on bringing NHS sterilisation and decontamination facilities up to scratch, in order to prevent patients contracting vCJD during surgery.
Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth, hopes to have introduced single-use equipment by the end of next month, and commented that operations had been cancelled because its staff were committed to following the new governmental guidelines as soon as possible.
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