9,000 B.C. patients warned of surgical tools

More dirty hospital tools have been found in Kamloops, B.C., where hundreds of surgeries were cancelled earlier this year because of improperly cleaned instruments.

The Interior Health Authority has sent letters to 9,000 patients who had endoscopic procedures at Royal Inland Hospital between March 6, 2008, and July 15 of this year, warning them the scopes may not have been fully disinfected.

The agency says the risk of infection is extremely low and it's not recommending patients have any tests done, but it has set up a phone line if people have any questions.

Endoscopes are long, flexible tubes used to examine and diagnose problems in the gastrointestinal tract.

In this case, the health authority says the scopes were subject to both manual cleaning and an automated washer, but part of the scopes were not getting a high enough level of disinfection in the washer.

Just last week, a case of contaminated surgical instruments forced a delay in an operation at Royal Inland, while earlier this year about 200 surgeries were cancelled because dirty tools began showing up in operating rooms.