A new €5 million operating theatre suite has been opened at Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital in Dublin.

This brings to seven the number of theatres at the hospital, which says it now has the capacity to treat many more patients currently on long waiting lists elsewhere for orthopaedic care.

Opening the new theatres, Health Minister James Reilly said Cappagh had extra capacity which the health service should be using and initiatives within the health service could put the hospital in line for additional work.

Technology in the new theatre suite allows surgery being carried out there to be viewed anywhere in the world. If necessary, surgeons can communicate live with each other to consult on complex cases.

Cappagh points out that it has low infection rates compared to other hospitals and remains the highest scoring hospital in HIQA's national hygiene audit.

It says more orthopaedic surgery services could be transferred to it from acute hospitals in the eastern region

The hospital's CEO Gordon Dunne said the opening of the new theatres meant that Cappagh now had the capacity to further centralise orthopaedic surgery in the region.

He said centralising planned orthopaedic procedures would relieve pressure on theatre space in acute hospitals while ensuring consultants' skills are optimised.

Cappagh is currently ranked fourth of 51 public hospitals by patients in irishhealth.com's Rate My Hospital league table.