A&E overcrowding leads to cancelled operations

THE crisis at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick took on new proportions last night when the hospital admitted it could not say how many, if any, surgical operations would take place today.

As scores of patients crammed surgical wards, a hospital spokesman said: “I cannot say how many operations were cancelled yesterday and today and I cannot say how many will be cancelled tomorrow.” The spokesman said that all cancelled operations involved elective surgery.

Nurses said the overcrowding has been exacerbated by the centralisation of emergency and acute surgical services in Limerick. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said there were 44 patients on trolleys yesterday and 51 the day before.