Beaumont Hospital third to postpone non-urgent procedures

Beaumont Hospital has become the third hospital to postpone non-urgent procedures tomorrow, because of an increase in the number of people presenting to its emergency department.

All non-urgent elective procedures due to take place at Cork University Hospital (CUH) and the Mater Hospital were postponed today.

Earlier on Health Minister Leo Varadkar said the cancellation of elective surgeries, while regrettable, is part of the escalation measures agreed with nurses to ease pressure in EDs.

HSE figures show there were 253 patients on trolleys this afternoon, with 185 of these waiting over nine hours.