Surgeries deferred over A&E logjam

Cork University Hospital has had to cancel non-urgent surgeries because of the huge number of attendances at its emergency unit over the weekend.

The HSE last night issued a statement saying almost 400 patients sought care at the hospital’s emergency department between 8am on Saturday and 4pm yesterday, of whom 117 required emergency admission.

On foot of this, the HSE said it was “regrettable” that some elective procedures have had to be deferred. It said the procedures would be rescheduled as soon as possible and that the situation was “being reviewed continuously” by hospital management.