Galway surgeries cancelled due to Emergency Dept overcrowding

A Galway city hospital has refused to say how many surgeries have been deferred or cancelled as a result of Emergency Department overcrowding over the past week.

University Hospital Galway (UHG) either cancelled or deferred all non-elective surgeries scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – it has refused to say how many patients are affected.

“The hospital is not releasing any details regarding numbers of surgeries deferred or cancelled at the moment,” said a spokesperson acting on behalf of the HSE West.

The decision to defer surgeries was taken by management because UHG’s Emergency Department has been inundated with presentations due to the spread of flu and other Winter illnesses.

The hospital said it was taking “all immediate actions necessary” to deal with the increase in demand for services, including cancelling or deferring electives.

The hospital has appealed to the public to go to their GPs first, where possible, rather than presenting at the Emergency Department.

The spokesperson said that January is “traditionally a busy period for hospitals” and “much of this increase can be attributed to increases in the number of people suffering with flu and other seasonal illnesses common at this time of year”.

As well as deferring and cancelling electives, the hospital said it was “ensuring there are no unnecessary delays for necessary diagnostic tests for patients in the Emergency Department. All available bed capacity is being utilised”.

Surgeries were affected again yesterday (Monday) and this could continue for the rest of the week.