St Helena Government (SHG) wishes to inform the public that a small number of non-urgent operations at Jamestown Hospital have been postponed over the past two weeks due to an unexpected technical issue affecting essential theatre equipment.
SHG would like to reassure the community that emergency and urgent surgery will continue to be provided safely.
The postponements are the result of technical faults affecting the Hospital’s anaesthetic machines. Despite extensive efforts by local staff working remotely with the manufacturer, the faults cannot be resolved on island. The Hospital can still provide safe anaesthesia using alternative equipment, but this is a more complex and time-consuming process and is therefore being reserved for essential and urgent procedures.
As a result, non-urgent surgery will continue to be postponed until replacement anaesthetic machines arrive on the island. These machines have already been purchased and are expected to arrive on the next scheduled visit of the MV Karoline, due on 24 July. Unfortunately, these specialist items cannot be transported by air.
Throughout this period, the Hospital will continue to provide safe, emergency, and urgent surgical care.
SHG would like to thank those patients whose procedures have been postponed for their understanding and patience while we work to restore normal services.
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