Operations cancelled at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds after pigeon faeces falls into sterile storage room

A number of planned operations at West Suffolk Hospital have been cancelled after pigeon faeces fell into the sterile storage room.

Staff at the Bury St Edmunds hospital realised over the weekend that pigeons were in the roof space above the sterile storage room ceiling.

Some of the faeces fell through joins in the ceiling tiles and the sterile services team are re-sterilising all the equipment from the room, which will be deep cleaned.

A West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said some of the planned operations today have been postponed to prioritise using the remaining sterile equipment for emergency patients.

One operation was also cancelled at the weekend due to the issue and there was no clinical harm to the person involved.

They said: “At no point did the birds enter the sterile storage room or any of our operating theatres.

“As soon as staff became aware of what had happened the room was closed.

“Pest control has been called out and the area where the birds gained access into the roof space has been closed off so it cannot happen again.

“Those patients who have had their procedures postponed because of this incident will be rescheduled as soon as possible.”