Patients may be waiting for many more months for elective procedures that were cancelled during the Covid-19 lockdown.
That's according to the Chief Operating Officer of Saolta University Healthcare Group Ann Cosgrove who made the comments during this month's Regional Health Forum West in response to a question submitted by Independent Roscommon Cllr Tony Ward.
Over 11 thousand six hundred people are on waiting lists for elective surgeries in Galway Hospitals serving the Shannonside Region and over 18 hundred of these have been waiting more than two years already.
While work is underway on creating more theatre capacity across the hospital group, and some elective activity has resumed, Ann Cosgrove says the backlog created by Covid-19 still poses a significant challenge.
