The hospitals are trying to minimise impact to anyone affected.
Cambridgeshire hospitals have said they will need to postpone some operations due to a shortage of supplies. There is a “global shortage” of bone cement used for joint replacements such as knees and hips.
As a result, hospitals under the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust (CUH) – including Addenbrooke’s Hospital – and Peterborough City Hospital have had to postpone some upcoming operations.
The CUH website said: “One of the major international manufacturers temporarily paused production following a packaging fault. Although production has now restarted, supplies remain limited across the UK and are expected to be affected over the coming weeks.
“This national issue is being coordinated by NHS England, and like other NHS trusts, CUH has put immediate measures in place to ensure patient safety and continuity of urgent care. We recognise how frustrating and disappointing this disruption may feel, particularly if you are currently waiting for surgery.
“Like other NHS trusts, we are prioritising our use of bone cement to treat patients with the greatest clinical need. Unfortunately, some planned joint replacement surgeries or procedures will need to be postponed.”
A Peterborough City Hospital spokesperson said the hospital is trying to keep the impact to a “minimum”.
They added: “We are doing all we can to keep the impact of this issue to a minimum, but we will need to postpone some planned surgery over the coming weeks. We recognise how frustrating and disappointing this will be for patients who will have already waited a long time for their procedure.”
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