Keyhole surgery cameras being used at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital are continually breaking down presenting a potential risk to patient safety – a new report has revealed.

The failing theatre equipment has also affected the number of patients undergoing stomach and hip operations, as well as holding up the development of cancer treatments.

Now more than £1million is being spent on 19 new camera systems and their maintenance over the next few years.

In a report to the board of The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, finance director Peter Sawyer insisted there was an “urgent need” to replace the equipment, that was now up to 10 years old.

Currently the trust leases most of the the cameras it uses for laparoscopy surgery, which covers operations on the abdomen and pelvic areas, but Mr Sawyer advised it was more cost-effective to buy the equipment.

Eleven of the existing cameras are seven years old, having been leased in 2002 and renewed on a quarterly basis since then.

The trust owns a further six systems that range from five to 10 years old.

There is also a need for two new cameras, one for blue-light cystoscopy, which shows up cancers in the bladder, and one for the urology outpatients’ department for people suffering from kidney, bladder and urinary tract problems.