Blood shortages forced the two Galway regional hospitals to cancel 35 elective operations last week. Merlin Park Hospital cancelled 25 operations and University College Hospital cancelled 10. However, 265 operations went ahead at the two hospitals during the period.
The Western Health Board is hoping to hear today from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service that it will be getting sufficient supplies to resume normal services this week.
Patients of the Mater Hospital in Dublin could soon be having day surgery at St Bricin's Military Hospital off Infirmary Road, near the Phoenix Park. Agreement in principle has been reached on the move and the practicalities are being finalised between the Mater, the Department of Defence, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Department of Health and Children. Surgery will be carried out by the Mater's consultants.
Clonmel, Co Tipperary, and the Blanchardstown/Castle knock area of Dublin were the most miserable places in the State at the end of January. Returns made to the National Disease Surveillance Centre by GPs show that these were the areas with the greatest concentrations of flu in the week ending January 28th. While hospitals and GPs escaped any major winter epidemic which could have increased the strain on their services, the end of winter has brought an outbreak of influenza which appears to be spreading. There were 56 cases per 100,000 people in the last week of January, up from 42 cases the previous week and 23 cases the week before.
Just under half the elective operations carried out at Mercy Hospital, Cork, in the first three months of last year were on private patients, according to statistics supplied by the hospital. Of 3,031 non-urgent procedures in the period, 55 per cent were on public patients and 45 per cent on private patients.
Accident and Emergency services at Tullamore General Hospital should be boosted shortly with the appointment of three temporary A&E consultants. But the way the consultant posts have been allocated means Mullingar General Hospital will continue to be without an A&E consultant.
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