‘Stupid policy to blame for surgery cancellations’, says consultant orthopaedic surgeon

A consultant orthopaedic surgeon who cancelled four out of five hip operations two weeks ago — blaming the hospital’s escalation policy — had to cancel another four procedures yesterday.

Letterkenny General Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Peter O’Rourke said two hip replacement and two knee replacement operations were cancelled yesterday morning, with scheduled patients notified by phone.

He said two of yesterday’s cancellations included two of the patients who had their surgeries cancelled a fortnight ago. He said the majority of his patients are aged 65 upwards.