Shrewsbury hospital staff praised for extra hours push after chemotherapy machine breaks

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's cancer unit was forced to open late, and on a Saturday, after the broken machine led to delays in treatment for some patients.

Consultants also reviewed their lists of patients to prioritise those most in need.

The machine affected is used to produce chemotherapy intravenous infusions, and the hospital initially needed to source the medication from other suppliers.

A temporary fix has now been put in place to restore the full service, with a permanent repair expected to be completed next month.

Debbie Kadum, chief operating officer at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust said that the work of the staff had prevented a situation which could have had "quite an impact" on patients.

She said: "Unfortunately, from time-to-time, equipment does inevitably go wrong. In this case, there was the potential for there to be quite an impact on our patients, but we immediately put in place a plan to outsource these medications to other suppliers to ensure that all of our patients are able to continue to receive their treatment.

"This did result in some patients having their treatment delayed, but to address this staff opened our service later into the evenings and on a Saturday to ensure anyone affected was seen as quickly as possible. I am pleased to say the backlog we experienced has now been addressed."

Mrs Kadum commended the work from staff in clearing the backlog and making sure that there was minimal impact on the hospital's patients.

She said: "There was a very considerable commitment shown by all those involved to minimise the impact for patients, which included our consultants reviewing their lists on a daily basis to ensure that we prioritised our patients based on medical need.

"This has been an exemplary display of teamwork between different departments to ensure the best for our patients and I would like to thank our consultants, pharmacy staff, nurses and ward staff for their hard work and for putting our patients first."

Earlier this month the trust launched a new scheme designed to tailor care around the needs of patients diagnosed with cancer. It includes health and wellbeing events, which will enable patients who have been newly diagnosed with cancer to meet the people who will help them with their recovery. It is being piloted for six months at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.