Cancer and red flag care resuming in Western Trust after postponement due to deal with COVID-19 pressures, Dr. Anne Kilgallen confirms

Dr. Anne Kilgallen, the Western Trust Chief Executive, said: “On January 18 we made the difficult and heart-breaking decision to postpone patients who were expecting to attend our hospitals for cancer and red flag procedures

“The reason for this was that we needed to deploy the expert staff who would have looked after them to staff our intensive care unit. This reflects the pressures, not just of COVID-19 but of other critically ill patients who need access to intensive care. I am delighted we have been able to rebook those patients whose procedures were postponed.”

WHSCT expects to be offering care to those patients this week. “I bitterly regret the fact that we had to postpone for some patients. It is possible that in the future we may need to postpone procedures again if the needs of our patients in intensive care grow.”