Melanie Dubbelde, Acting Executive Director
Staff may have seen the recent media coverage on 7 News about the passing of two heart transplant patients at The Prince Charles Hospital relating to a fungal infection event.
We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of these patients during this difficult time.
We understand this media coverage may be causing some concerns and anxiety among staff and other patients of the hospital.
Fungal infections, like the ones these patients acquired, are ever present in the community. It is in homes, workplaces, common areas and unfortunately our transplant patients are at high risk if exposed to these infections because their immunity is compromised.
When we recently became aware of an increase in fungal infections amongst our heart transplant patients, we undertook investigations and as a result, detected some possible contamination in the environment where equipment to retrieve donor hearts and lungs is stored. Out of an abundance of caution, TPCH paused the heart transplant program and the lung transplant retrieval service in late October for a number of days while testing and cleaning of key areas within the hospital was undertaken. In addition, we replaced some stock items that also may have been contaminated. An outcome of the testing was that existing retrieval equipment was discarded and replacement equipment was ordered.
We currently have a specialist team consisting of transplant and infectious diseases staff working to ensure that any potential source of fungal infection is identified and removed.
Our transplant program is now up and running at full capacity and currently has patients on the active waiting list for both heart and lung transplants.
We are working with and engaging with our transplant patients on this issue, and are taking every step to keep our transplant patients safe when they are in the community and in our care.
We are also equally committed to keeping our staff well informed about the current situation.
A full review of the two patient cases is currently being undertaken with strong input from our clinical teams. We expect the outcomes of this review to be available in mid-December.
We thank everyone for their support as we work through this issue.
Regards,
Melanie.