NHS Grampian has apologised to patients after revealing dozens of operations will be postponed in the coming days.
Hospital bosses say that emergency surgeries and C-sections will continue to take place, along with operations involving patients judged to have the highest clinical priority.
Both of the health board’s central decontamination units – which sterilise and prepare surgical equipment – are currently unable to operate.
The CDU at Woodend Hospital is currently out of use, following damage to electrical systems caused by a lightning strike, while the CDU on the Foresterhill site has been affected by a failure in its specialist ventilation system.
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NHS Grampian has implemented contingency plans and is using external CDU capacity, which has substantially increased turnaround times for instruments.
It is expected around 20 operations due to take place at the health board’s Aberdeen hospitals on Wednesday August 28 will be postponed.
It is estimated around 50 will still take place at the facilities.
Divisional general manager, Cameron Matthew said: “Unfortunately, due to a fault with our main central decontamination unit, we will have to postpone a number of surgeries, due to take place at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital and Woodend Hospital in the coming days.
“We would reassure everyone that during this period we will still be providing emergency and urgent surgery – including major trauma cases and C-sections.
“The postponements are regrettable, and I would apologise to everyone who will be affected by this.
“We will individually contact patients affected as soon as possible – if you do not hear from us, it is because your operation is still due to go ahead.
"We are currently looking at every case scheduled to take place in the coming days and prioritising patients based on clinical need.
“We understand that waits for most operations are already longer than we would like, and we realise that there is a very real impact on the quality of life to many of the people waiting for procedures.
“If your procedure is postponed, please be assured that we will reschedule your surgery at the earliest possible opportunity, once the situation has been resolved.
General manager for facilities and estates, at NHS Grampian, Gavin Payne added: “We are currently utilising contingency plans and using other sites, out with Grampian, to carry out the work of the CDU – but this is causing extended turnaround times for our surgical instruments which impacts the number of operations we can undertake.”
Work is under way to repair both CDUs.
"Once these works are carried out, a series of environmental tests will need to be conducted to ensure the space is safe to return to use.
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