Steriliser Report “Not Correct”

Press, Issue 32333, 26 June 1970, Page 14

Steriliser Report “Not Correct”

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 25. A reported statement by Mr A. P. Dixon, of the National Health Institute, that tests he made had convinced him that people were dying in hospitals because of defective sterilisers or of contracting infections after surgery, was not correct, the Minister of Health (Mr McKay) said in Parliament today.

The Minister was replying to an urgent question from the Opposition spokesman on Health, Mr N. J. King (Waitemata). Mr McKay said there had been only one death of this type in recent years, and in that case, which was fully investigated and reported, the responsible materials had not been sterilised. “The only other single case reported which could be related to defective sterilisation was one of infection which responded to treatment

and did not have a fatal outcome,” he said. “The medical director of the National Health Institute states unequivocably that the findings on testing New Zealand hospital sterilisation facilities are much better than those reported from Britain. “The whole purpose of the present investigations is to maintain and improve this standard, demanded by modern surgical techniques.

“In association with this inspection programme, the institute arranges regular teaching programmes to ensure that all operators of these facilities are instructed in modern techniques and safeguards,” the Minister said.