Leo Varadkar signals elective surgery switch to tackle trolley crisis

More elective surgery is to be switched from winter to summer months in order to ease the annual spike in patients being treated on trolleys, Health Minister Leo Varadkar has signalled.

Under fire in the Dáil to take more action to deal with the crisis, Mr Varadkar said he intended to target what he called “very long waiters”.

“Where it is necessary to prioritise cancer and other complex cases, the HSE assures me that this is being done. This inevitably will affect waiting lists.