Theatres closed due to lack of sterilisation staff

TWO theatres at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) cannot be used because there are no staff available to sterilise the instruments, the Joint committee on Health and Children heard yesterday.

The theatres are used to treat gynaecological problems, such as stress incontinence. Labour’s Kathleen Lynch said she had been told by a consultant that he could clear both his private and public waiting lists within the year if the theatres could be used.

Chief executive of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, said Cork University Hospital had a staff of around 3,500 people and he found it hard to believe that a sterilisation unit could not be operated in because there was no staff available.