Cancelled Merlin Park operations to be carried out at UHG

Mon, Sep 25, 2017

Arrangements are being made for operations, cancelled as a result of a roof leak at Merlin Park Hospital, to instead be carried out in theatres at University Hospital Galway as an interim measure.

Earlier this month, leaks developed in the roof of a building at Merlin Park, which houses the hospital’s two orthopaedic operating theatres, leading to all surgery being cancelled at the facility. Some elective orthopaedic surgery, including hip replacements and spinal operations, will now be carried out in theatres at the UHG, using nursing staff from the Merlin Park facility. It is hoped this will reduce the backlog of patients awaiting surgery.

However, Galway West Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton has warned against any "sticking-plaster solution" and reiterated her call for a "new acute hospital" at Merlin Park. “We need to facilitate the immediate continuation of elective orthopaedic surgery for the sake of those patients, many of whom are enduring pain and anxiety,” she said.