Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to point out that roughly 80% of people are seen within the target time. We tend to focus on those for whom the target is not met. While non-urgent elective surgery is being cancelled, out-patient surgery is not and in most cases day surgery and investigations such as scopes, for example, are not being cancelled. It is not the case that everything is being cancelled or anything like that.

It is the case that emergency departments are much busier at this time of year every winter. What it might make sense to do would be to smooth out activities in hospitals so we do not plan as many elective procedures in January and instead plan to carry out more in the summer. At the moment, the surge happens in January and elective surgery is deferred but then wards are closed in the summer. It might make more sense from now on to plan to do fewer elective procedures in January and February and during the summer to keep the wards open and to do more elective procedures at that time. This would be a way of smoothing out the activity in hospitals. I am sure if it was that simple it would have been done long ago but it may be something that at the least may need to be attempted.

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