Much of the low morale is due to work not being done that was planned, particularly elective work. When an operation is cancelled it is terrible for the patient, but it is also terrible – particularly if it is a big operation – for the surgeon who has had to organise the entire day and arrange for a particular anaesthetist and maybe a radiologist. The waste of time involving all those people is shocking. In one of the Dublin hospitals at one stage they would phone me when there was an anaesthetist on duty but no surgeon available and vice versa. They gave up eventually as there was no point in phoning me. This type of issue is most unfortunate.