Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
I am pleased to update Members about the recent supply issues affecting bone cement, which is used in some orthopaedic operations, such as hip and knee replacements.
Earlier this month, a manufacturing problem affecting a German supplier, led to an unplanned global shortage of bone cement, resulting in UK NHS organisations, including Welsh health boards, pausing some planned orthopaedic operations for a short period to reserve existing stocks for urgent and emergency surgery. Following notification of the shortage, Welsh Government worked closely with clinicians and Health Boards to ensure that capacity created on elective operating lists was fully utilised for patients not requiring cement as part of their procedure.
I am pleased to confirm a new supplier of bone cement has been secured, and clinical experts have checked and agreed the product is safe to use. This means all orthopaedic operations which use this product will be able to restart as normal from 2 March.
Health boards will contact everyone who had their operation postponed last week to rearrange appointments.
I want to thank everyone for their patience and extend my sincere thanks to all NHS staff who have acted quickly and professionally to keep people safe during this period.
Work is underway to understand the impact supply issues have had on orthopaedic waiting times. I will publish an update when the analysis is complete.
Our priority has been to protect urgent care, keep patients safe, and restore normal services as quickly as possible. Thanks to the swift actions of NHS Wales teams and clinical leaders, we can move forward with confidence.