MANY patients needing orthopaedic treatment are having their operations cancelled or being shipped to Redditch due to a nursing shortage.

The Worcestershire Royal Hospital is reaching crisis point with orthopaedic referrals as there are not enough qualified nurses to cope with the amount of patients.

Patients are now either having to wait for up to a month after an operation is cancelled, or are being offered the option of being treated at Redditch.

A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nurses said the problem was nationwide and was not restricted to Worcester, although the area did have a history of difficulties retaining staff.

"Recruitment and retention of orthopaedic nurses at Worcester has been a problem, but saying the problem is specific to Worcester would be unfair," she said.

Specialised

"Orthopaedic nurses are very difficult to recruit as it is quite specialised and the nature of the skills and knowledge needed is extensive.

"It is also a very busy environment and the nature of the patients on the wards makes a lot of demands on nurses."

Bosses at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have vowed to make sure any patients who have cancelled operations are given another date within a month.

The Trust is also recruiting orthopaedic nurses so the service can get back to normal.

"Orthopaedics is a specialised profession within the field of nursing, so no ordinary nurses can do the job," said Janet-Marie Clark, spokeswoman for the Trust.

"We are recruiting, but it is hard, heavy work and specialist training is needed.

"If any operations are cancelled, they will have it within a month.

"If there is the option to go to Redditch, then patients may have the chance to have the operation there - it is up to them."