The outbreak of a superbug at University Hospital Waterford has led to the cancellation of all non-emergency surgical procedures at the hospital tomorrow.
A number of beds in the Surgical Ward have been closed as a result of the CPE Outbreak.
The hospital plans to reopen the ward next week following cleaning and decontamination.
However, all planned Day Case and Inpatient procedures that were due to take place tomorrow have been cancelled.
The hospital says all other options have been exhausted and they apologise to all patients affected.
They say that appointments and procedures that have been cancelled will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
UHW Statement
"University Hospital Waterford is experiencing high levels of demand for unscheduled care on an on-going basis. An additional challenge that has arisen this week is that of a CPE Outbreak which has resulted in the closure of a number of beds in the Surgical Ward.
In an effort to reopen the Surgical Ward for next week (post-cleaning and decontamination) it is necessary to cancel all planned Day Case and Inpatient procedures, i.e. Ambulatory Day Ward Admissions and all non- emergency scheduled Surgical Admissions for tomorrow Friday the 6th of September.
University Hospital Waterford apologises to all patients affected by these essential closures and cancellations and wishes to advise that all other options have been exhausted. Appointments and procedures that have been cancelled will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
These actions are necessary to ensure patient safety and to restore the functionality of the Surgical Ward next week."
The HSE says Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacterales (CPE) is the newest in a long line of 'superbugs' (bacteria that are hard to kill with antibiotics).
Of all the superbugs, CPE is the most difficult to kill with antibiotics.
What is CPE?
The gut of every normal, healthy human contains bacteria called Enterobacterales. While they are in our gut they are good for us and they cause no harm. If these bacteria get into the wrong place, such as the bladder or bloodstream, they can cause infection. CPE superbugs do no harm as long as they stay in the gut. They do not cause diarrhoea, vomiting or tummy upset.
Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are a particular type of these common gut bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are often referred to as
superbugs. CPE is one type of superbug.
CPE have developed a resistance to a powerful group of antibiotics called carbapenems. Carbapenems are an important group of antibiotics that doctors often rely on to treat infections where
treatment with other common antibiotics will not work. CPE are often resistant to many other antibiotics as well as to the carbapenems. There are still some antibiotics that do work against CPE.
