Consultant quits over patient care

Derriford Hospital has no laminar flow equipment

A consultant has resigned from a Plymouth hospital because of his concerns about patient care.

Mr Godfrey Charnley, 42, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Derriford Hospital, said patients could be at risk because the hospital had not installed infection-control equipment.

The hospital is the only major hospital in the South West without "laminar flow" equipment, which can reduce bacteria around a patient and cut infection risk by up to 300%.

He also criticised a '"scoring" system used by the hospital to decide which people should be given operations.

People who are on waiting lists for a certain time are assessed on a point-scoring system, but it is based purely on clinical need

Plymouth NHS Hospitals Trust

Mr Charnley, whose resignation takes effect at the end of February, said: "My principles will not allow me to remain silent over the continued short-term approach to patients, especially the elderly needing joint replacement surgery."

He criticised the system used by GPs to prioritise the treatment of orthopaedic patients.

He said: "It is a crude way of reducing waiting lists."

A spokesman for Plymouth NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs a number of hospitals in the area, said: "People who are on waiting lists for a certain time are assessed on a point-scoring system, but it is based purely on clinical need."

A spokesman for Derriford Hospital said: "We introduced the system in collaboration with local GPs.

"The scoring is done at the referral stage and it is being done in agreement with the GPs who asked for it to be brought in."

Intensive discussion

The hospital spokesman said the trust was extremely disappointed it had been unable to install the "laminar flow" equipment into orthopaedic theatres.

The system comprises a huge fan to draw contaminated air away from the operating area.

He said the theatres were not built to accommodate this equipment but said alternatives are being considered.

He said: "A number of options were under intensive discussion and will be considered by the trust's management board at the end of January 2002.

"Staff working in the orthopaedic department are under pressure but they are achieving a great deal in difficult circumstances.

"The orthopaedic service has recently met the target for reducing maximum waiting time to 15 months."