The health safety body HIQA has recommended the introduction of hospital referral and treatment guidelines for some common surgical procedures.

The rules are intended to minimise the number of patients who may be referred to hospitals by GPs for surgery but may not actually need  procedure.

It says the new guidelines will ensure that the right patients are referred for the right treatment at the right time.

This, according to HIQA, would release capacity in the hospital system without causing harm to patients or reducing the potential clinical benefit of procedures.

The surgical procedures covered by the guidelines are varicose vein surgery, tonsillectomy, grommet insertion/adenoidectomy and cataract surgery.

The guidelines are intended to provide greater clarity to GPs and patients about the clinical criteria used by surgeons to inform their decision to operate.

The guidelines outline new thresholds for referral intended to minimise the number of patients referred to surgical outpatients who do not proceed to having surgery, according to HIQA.