Operating theatres are shabby and hard to clean says the consultant

A consultant has resigned from the South West's biggest hospital in a row over spending and waiting lists.

Senior orthopaedic surgeon Geoff Anderson made a list of damning complaints about Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, and said he was leaving to work in New Zealand.

Derriford has already sent people abroad for operations such as hip replacement, which surgeons have said should be carried out there.

In his resignation letter, Mr Anderson, 44, said he was concerned about standards relating to hygiene in Derriford's four orthopaedic theatres.

I have a strong and unpleasant sense of walking out and deserting a sinking ship Consultant Geoff Anderson

His letter said: "Theatres are too small with inadequate ventilation systems and insufficient and inappropriately sited storage.

"They are shabby and hard to clean, hence usually dirty.

"They are ill-equipped and understaffed. They are also too far from our wards."

He also criticised the proposed use of what he said were "desperate measures to meet waiting list targets".

Hospital bosses have rejected the surgeon's accusations

He said: "Wards are overfilled with patients who have often been kept hanging on waiting for a bed up to the very last possible second.

"Patients are often admitted to inappropriate wards or to mixed sex bays.

"They are moved from ward to ward while in hospital and their discharge is often rushed.

"Our nurses are often so busy 'finding beds' that they have less time to nurse."

He added that he had a "strong and unpleasant sense of walking out and deserting a sinking ship, but the pressures of the last year are taking an unacceptable toll on my health and on my family".

I believe that our patients receive safe and reliable treatment Paul Roberts, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Derriford said a �140m expansion of the hospital, called the Vanguard Project, would improve facilities by 2007.

Paul Roberts, chief executive of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, accepted that there were capacity problems across orthopaedic and other departments, but they had to be dealt with together.

"I recognise that our current facilities for orthopaedic surgery are not perfect," he said.

"But I believe that our patients receive safe and reliable treatment, and there is no evidence to the contrary."

Mr Roberts said he "totally rejected" the suggestion that cancellations were engineered to prevent patients breaching waiting time limits.

He said that Derriford was not a "sinking ship", but a "vibrant hospital with huge potential which is being rapidly developed".