28 million elective surgeries worldwide could be cancelled or postponed because of Covid-19.
Image via PixabayThere's a backlog of over 16,400 postponed surgeries in Irish hospitals due to the Coronavirus, a new study shows.
Three of the private hospitals taken over by the State, in a deal costing €115 million euro per month to help tackle Covid-19, accommodated no patients during April.
According to figures released to the Irish Times, two inpatient beds out of three remained empty for the month in private hospitals covered by the deal. It's reported private hospitals may pull out of the agreement if the HSE does not increase the number of patients it is sending.
Meanwhile, according to research from the University of Birmingham, 28 million elective surgeries worldwide could be cancelled or postponed because of Covid-19. They say it will only be possible to clear 179 operations from the list every week, meaning it could take two years to clear the backlog.
The research shows every additional week of disruption at hospitals will lead to 2.4 million cancellations.
