The North Eastern Health Board was again accused yesterday of running services at Cavan General Hospital in a haphazard fashion after patients notified on Friday that they should attend for surgery yesterday ended up having their operations cancelled on Sunday night.
Mr Paudge Connolly, the Independent Cavan/Monaghan TD, said he had received calls from a number of patients who received letters by swiftpost on Friday informing them they should attend for day surgery yesterday morning.
"The first thing these people had to do was ring their employers to say they could not be at work this week and their employers had to find temps to fill in for them. Then on Sunday evening at about 6.30 p.m. they received calls to say their procedures had been cancelled," Mr Connolly said.
"The health board say they review the situation on a day-to-day basis. It's a haphazard way to run a health service and its not acceptable for people to have to make arrangements and then change them at the last minute," he added.
A spokeswoman for the health board said the A&E department at the hospital was very busy over the weekend and because of a shortage of beds this created, some elective surgery had to be cancelled. "We regret the inconvenience to patients," she said.
Cavan Hospital has been in the spotlight since nine-year-old Cootehill girl Frances Sheridan died a week ago, three weeks after an appendix operation at the hospital. She was recuperating at home when she experienced abdominal pain. She was taken back to the hospital, but was told she probably only had a tummy bug and was sent home. Two days later, she awoke vomiting blood. An ambulance was called, but she was dead by the time it had arrived. Post-mortem results are awaited and the health board has begun an investigation.