Rise in number of infections at Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital
There has been a rise in the number of wound infections at Shropshire's orthopaedic hospital, it has been revealed.
Staff have said the increase in cases at Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital have said may be connected to building work currently being done on the site.
The hospital at Gobowen has seen more than the expected number of infections in surgical wounds in patients over recent months, a meeting of the hospital trust's board heard.
Jane Downey, director of nursing at the hospital, said: "We've looked at the surgeons, patients, type of surgery, who is doing the suturing, the way the dressings are changed and so on. We may never get to the bottom of the issue, but it does seem to be reducing now."
Mrs Downey said they have also looked into the possibility that dust from building work currently being carried out on a new theatre unit may be to blame.
"With building work you have to make sure your windows and doors are kept shut," she said.
"There could be a correlation as these infections have been confined to patients in the main theatres, but they have not been the type of infection usually associated with building dust."
She added that she has spoken with Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group about the issue.
"This won't end within the 60 days the CCG would like because we're doing a lot of work to try to find the source, but it is reducing," she said.
