elective surgery cancelled due to Storm Ophelia

There was a significant impact on the vast majority of health and social care services in the Mid-West due to the adverse weather conditions on Monday.

The Mid-West HSE has confirmed that some elective surgery had to be cancelled on Tuesday.

While the worst of Storm Ophelia was confined to Monday, disruption is likely over the coming days due to a number of factors including road conditions, building damage, power outages and disruption to full staffing levels.

With this in mind, the Mid-West HSE  expects a gradual return to normal services before the end of the week.

Due to cancelled appointments over the past 24 hours and a subsequent “catch-up” period required, patients can expect some delays in their appointments and discharges from hospitals over the next few days.

In the event of a cancellation, Clare people will be contacted by the relevant service.

In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the HSE stressed the safety of patients and clients travelling at this time is paramount.

In the event that patients or clients deem it unsafe to travel for an appointment, the service concerned will reschedule this appointment as quickly as possible.

Community services’ primary focus will be on dealing with the most vulnerable patients and clients in the first instance. This includes discharging elderly patients, whose discharge may have been delayed due to the weather, to the most appropriate facilities as quickly as possible.

Regarding acute hospital services, the intent is to restore all services over the coming days. It is anticipated that outpatient services will be fully provided tomorrow with a small number of exceptions.

Unfortunately, given the impact of the weather on the hospitals over the past number of hours, the HSE confirmed it was necessary to cancel some elective surgery on Tuesday. Urgent procedures will be protected and these cases will be prioritised.

Should any appointments be cancelled, hospitals will be in contact with those affected.

Following the significant disruption on Monday, it was expected that both Emergency Departments and GP clinics would be very busy on Tuesday and Wednesday with increased demands on those services.

Director general of the HSE, Tony O’Brien said Storm Ophelia has been an extremely challenging one for the health services and all other response agencies.

“The response has been extraordinary and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved. The health services’ priority is to restore all of our services as quickly as possible and to deal with the backlog of cancelled appointments that arose due to the weather crisis,” he said.

 

Dan Danaher