BHB would like to take the opportunity to correct misinformation published by TNN regarding availability of emergency and urgent surgeries. Lifesaving surgeries that can be performed at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital are never cancelled. Emergency surgeries are performed at the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Surgeons in private practice are allotted regular timeslots in the operating rooms and schedule their patients accordingly. Surgeons manage prioritising their patients. Lifesaving surgeries are always accommodated. In fact, in March, nine non-urgent (elective) outpatient surgeries were cancelled to allow emergency surgeries to take place.
On occasion, a non-urgent surgery may be postponed if there is no hospital bed available for the patient. This is a standard precaution in the event the patient needs to be admitted after theirM procedure. Surgeries may also be postponed if a preceding surgery or surgeries take longer than theNsurgeon anticipated.
BHB does not currently have a backlog of patients for whom it has cancelled surgery. In March, 761 procedures took place. Only two patients had their surgeries postponed due to a lack of beds. Those patients were rescheduled. Other outpatient surgery cancellations were as follows:
• Patient did not show: 8
• Patient cancelled the procedure: 8
• Procedure was bumped by an emergency surgery: 9
• Anaesthetist assessed the patient as unfit for surgery: 2
• Surgeon assessed the patient as unfit for surgery: 5
• Surgeon unavailable due to Heathrow Airport fire: 8
• Patient refused surgery: 1
• Preceding surgeries ran long, resulting in subsequent surgery cancellations: 7
Chemotherapy, which was also referenced in the TNN article, is not surgery, and BHB works closely with these patients when any change in their scheduled chemotherapy treatment is unavoidable. Cancer surgeries are treated as urgent when timing may impact the patient’s prognosis.
BHB is currently undergoing a planned upgrade of our sterile processing area and equipment. At this point, the renovation has not caused a significant decrease in surgical capacity. Surgeons are being kept abreast of any potential impact throughout the works. In some cases, some elective surgeries that would have taken place locally are taking place overseas Patients and their families can be reassured that urgent and emergency surgeries are continuing as normal at the hospital, and that elective surgeries are being prioritised and scheduled by their surgeons. Patients who have questions about a surgery cancellation can contact BHB’s patient relations manager at feedback@bhb.bm or 239-1425
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