Figures obtained by Newstalk Lunchtime show that more than 1,700 scheduled surgical procedures were cancelled at Irish hospitals in the month of January.
The cancellations stemmed from the latest crisis in Emergency Departments.
It includes 1044 inpatient cases and 711 day cases which were cancelled or postponed.
However the HSE figures could in fact be far higher as the numbers are not centrally collated and some cases may not yet have been reported. The figures don't apply to all hospitals.
The number of procedures being postponed looks set to rise again as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says there were 557 people awaiting admission on hospital trolley's this morning, up from 551 yesterday.
Nadine Maloney gave an overview of the hospital trolley figures:
Dr Hillary Dunne, Chief Executive of the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare, spoke to Luncthime today and asked why hospitals were not putting in interventions before this happens and said that the HSE need to re-examine the data they have collected:
