Orthopaedic surgery to be suspended for four months

AN orthopaedic surgeon has claimed he will only be able to operate “once or twice more” this year at Merlin Park Hospital in Galway because of plans to suspend all orthopaedic surgery for four months.

Under proposals from the Health Service Executive (HSE), all elective surgery at the hospital is due to be suspended from September until the end of the year.

However, because the hospital also effectively closes for Galway Race Week on July 26 — and this year the closure is extended to three weeks — consultant orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Kearns said he “will operate once or twice more this year” despite having 110 patients on his elective waiting list.