Bed shortages and staff illness lead to operation delays

A number of children's operations have been postponed at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, BBC News NI understands.

The hospital has been under pressure for many weeks with an increasing number of children being admitted with respiratory infections.

Due to lack of bed space, some elective operations have been temporarily cancelled.

BBC News NI asked the Belfast Health Trust for a statement on Tuesday.

The trust has yet to respond.

Northern Ireland is experiencing a very high rate of chest and respiratory infections - numbers which are normally seen post-Christmas.

However, an alarming number of children are also having to be admitted to hospital.

Staff sickness is also a factor.

Doctors working in the hospital are concerned about availability of beds in the coming weeks when they will have to cope with additional winter pressures.

Last winter, children's services were mostly unaffected, but this year the situation is completely different.