'Unprecedented' for transplant surgery to be cancelled due to lack of ICU beds

In the case of the surgery that was cancelled at the Mater hospital it had not been possible to offer the donor organ to another jurisdiction because of the time scale involved, but in some circumstances organs would be offered to another jurisdiction. Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The director of Organ Donation and Transplants Ireland, Professor Jim Egan has told of how it was unprecedented for transplant surgery to be cancelled because of the shortage of intensive care beds.

Prof Egan was speaking about the cancellation of a transplant operation at Dublin’s Mater hospital earlier this month because there was not an intensive care bed available.