9 October 2007 MP Disappointed at Operations Cancelled Due to Problems With Sterilisation of Surgical Instruments North East Herts MP Oliver Heald was disappointed to note from the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust’s Trust Brief published in September 2007, that 31% of operations cancelled during August were due to problems with availability of sterile surgical instruments.  Commenting, Oliver Heald said, “I have been pressing the Trust for many months to reduce the number of problems with non-sterile surgical instruments. I have been assured that the situation would improve once new equipment had been installed. It is therefore very disappointing to see the latest figures which show that nearly one third of operations cancelled in August were due to problems with non-sterile surgical instruments.”