Dirty Surgeries at RIH Downright Frightening

(Aired on February 17, 2010)

The story we brought to you this week on dirty surgical tools at Royal Inland Hospital is a tough one to take.  It's hard to know what actually constitutes an overreaction to this issue.

If you want to downplay the story, you can say that the surgeons are the last line of defence and they would be able to see if their tools are dirty.  You could also say that it's a fairly minor issue being blown out of proportion.

But in talking to members of the public since the story broke, I haven't received that impression.  No one thinks this is just a minor issue.  The doctor who came forward is a well-respected surgeon at Royal Inland.  If he is willing to put himself out there to expose this issue, then it's clearly nothing to sneeze at.

And it raises so many more questions.  How prevalent is this problem?  How long has it been going on?  Who is responsible for the cleaning of the surgical equipment, and will that person be held accountable?

But then you take a step back and look at the broader implications of what's happened.  Are these the same tools that are used for emergency surgeries, and if so, are emergency surgeries even safe?  What has the rate of post-surgery infection been recently?  Someone anonymously sent us an e-mail today, claiming to be a nurse at R.I.H., something we can't verify.  This person said that he or she was ordered to carry out H.I.V. tests on patients post-surgery.  Did any of these tests come back positive?  Our newsroom is following up on all of these questions and many more.

Many people will react to this story and think it's simply disgusting.  But it's more than that - it's terrifying.  I.H.A. officials say they are making every effort now to ensure that the instruments are clean.  It will take a monumental effort, though, to cleanse the hospital's reputation.