NHS Lothian confirmed last month that it would be taking legal advice after an Edinburgh Royal Infirmary surgeon had to finish an operation by torchlight when maintenance workers at the health board’s ‘PFI provider’, Consort, allegedly failed to follow its ‘critical procedures’, turning off the electricity supply to two operating theatres ‘too early’ on 29 March as part of planned maintenance.
According to the Press Association, an operation in one theatre that had not begun had to be postponed until power returned, while staff in the other had to complete an operation by torchlight. Alan Boyter, executive director at NHS Lothian, said: “We have reached the point where we can no longer tolerate the repeated, serious, and potentially lifethreatening nature of these incidents at the Royal Infirmary by our PFI provider, Consort. We are currently consulting with our lawyers to discuss what options we have in relation to the contract. Patient safety is always our absolute priority, and we will not allow that to continually be put in danger by a third party. We are angry and frustrated with the performance of Consort.” Alan Boyter explained that the health board had ‘detailed contingency measures’ to ensure that patient safety is maintained. The health board would not comment on the type of the operation completed by torchlight. In a BBC News story broadcast on 20 April, Consort director, Stephen Gordon, said the company had ‘taken this incident very seriously’, and had ‘undertaken a thorough investigation into this matter in conjunction with NHS Lothian to review the current operating procedures in place for works of this nature’. He is reported to have said the power to the theatres had been disrupted ‘for about 10 minutes’.
