Operations cancelled at CUH over A&E plan

A number of patients scheduled for surgery at Cork University Hospital (CUH) had operations cancelled in the past week because of a protocol designed to reduce emergency department (ED) overcrowding.

The hospital confirmed that eight non-urgent elective surgeries were cancelled between Monday, February 29 and Tuesday, March 8.

In January, operations were cancelled on a number of occasions at the hospital, including 30 surgeries on January 21.

On Monday, CUH issued a statement saying 502 patients had presented to the emergency department between 8am on Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 6.

This included 162 patients who required hospital admission. Management at the hospital asked patients only to present at the department if it was urgent and to consult their GP first.

The hospital is also struggling to cope with a large volume of norovirus infection cases, a type of viral gastroenteritis brought in from the community.

Yesterday there were 34 patients on trolleys at CUH and 554 on trolleys nationally. Emergency department overcrowding was most acute at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where there were 50 patients on trolleys and at St Vincent’s University Hospital where there were also 50 patients on trolleys. At University Hospital Galway, there were 42 patients on trolleys.

Hospitals have been ordered by ministerial directive to take a series of steps to reduce emergency department crowding when it reaches certain specified levels.

The directive, known as an “escalation protocol” was issued last November by Health Minister Leo Varadkar and hospitals that do not comply are subject to penalties with resources re-allocated. The policy requires cancellation of non-urgent elective surgery as one of a series of steps to deal with emergency department overcrowding.

However it has been criticised as being designed “to appease those working in the ED” without taking into account the effects it can have on other parts of the hospital. Peter O’Rourke, an outspoken orthopaedic consultant at Letterkenny General hospital said it has “tied management’s hands”.

Mr O’Rourke has had to cancel a number of orthopaedic surgeries over the past few weeks on foot of the escalation policy. Four patients have had joint replacement surgery cancelled on two occasions.

While there have been empty beds in the orthopaedic ward, it has not been possible to use them to accommodate patients from the emergency department because of the high risk of infection to orthopaedic patients.