HEALTH Secretary Alan Milburn has moved swiftly to restore public confidence in his local hospital after operations were cancelled because of dirty surgical instruments.

Yesterday, The Northern Echo revealed exclusively that a surgeon refused to carry out any planned operations after finding flesh and blood on surgical instruments.

It was the fourth time that surgeon Simon Stock had rejected dirty instruments supplied by Darlington Memorial Hospital.

While the surgeon has now agreed to resume operations at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Mr Milburn contacted officials at the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust to hear first hand about the situation.

Last night, the Health Secretary said he was satisfied that the problem had been remedied.

"I have spoken to chief executive John Saxby and have received an assurance from him about the situation," said Mr Milburn.

"NHS Estates have been in to the trust to independently inspect what is going on and I have been assured that the hospital has been given a clean bill of health."

Changes had been made to deal with any problems that might have arisen in the past.

"Patients have got to know that when they go into hospital they are going to get the right standards of service," said the Health Secretary.

Tory Shadow Health Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said: "What The Northern Echo has revealed is an absolute scandal. I think people will be absolutely horrified to realise that in the Secretary of State's local hospital vital surgical instruments have not been properly cleaned, with all the risk that poses of contamination and spread of infection."

Dr Fox said the revelation would "send shock waves rippling through the rest of the health service". He speculated whether the Government's waiting list initiative was speeding up operations so much that insufficient time was being allowed for proper cleanliness.

But Mr Milburn rejected his comments: "To suggest that as a matter of routine patients at NHS hospitals have been put at risk is the height of irresponsibility," he said.

The Government was putting in an extra £200m into NHS sterilisation departments to deal with the "backlog of under-investment that the Conservatives built up in office".