Most planned surgery postponed at Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital due to coronavirus outbreak
Most planned operations have been postponed at Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor because of an ongoing coronavirus outbreak at the site.
On Monday, Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board confirmed that there were 75 cases of coronavirus at the hospital, with 49 of those linked to the outbreak.
The health board said the decision had been made to pause some surgeries in order to free up capacity to treat patients with Covid-19.
The majority of planned operations at the north Wales hospital have been postponed both this week and next week, although there are some exceptions for maternity and paediatric cases.
The health board also reassured that emergency surgery, diagnostic services, oncology and outpatients appointments will continue.
Alyson Constantine, Acute Care Site Director at Ysbyty Gwynedd, said: "This decision has been made to enable us to provide extra capacity on site due to the number of people being treated for COVID-19 infection at the hospital.
“A senior multidisciplinary team is continuing to oversee the management of the outbreak, reviewing the Infection Prevention measures in place to avoid further transmission.
“Cancelling elective operations is not a decision that we have taken lightly and we would like to apologise for any distress and disappointment this has inevitably caused. The safety of our patients and staff is incredibly important and it was necessary to make these difficult decisions to ensure this."
All patients affected will be contacted directly by the health board about the postponement of their procedure.
Ms Constantine also pleaded with people to only attend their emergency departments in serious or life threatening circumstances.
She added: "Visiting remains restricted, except for some limited circumstances, but people should continue to attend appointments unless they are told otherwise.”
All patients who have tested positive as part of the outbreak are being isolated, according to medical chiefs at the hospital.The health board did not provide updated figures on the numbers of confirmed cases within the hospital site.