The health safety body HIQA has published draft guidelines on thresholds that patients should meet before they are considered for spinal and hand surgery.

The guidelines aim to reduce the amount of unnecessary surgery that might be carried out in some cases.

HIQA has stressed that with the demand for healthcare services increasing, it is important that only those patients who will benefit from a procedure are referred.

HIQA's Director of Health Technology Assessment Dr Máirín Ryan said: "The purpose of these assessments is to ensure that the patients most in need of treatment receive it as quickly as possible. For scheduled procedures, it is vital that the right patients are referred for treatment at the right time, potentially releasing capacity and resources without causing harm or reducing benefit."

She said there were numerous benefits to having thresholds for surgery, including the reduction of inappropriate referral of patients for procedures.

The new guidelines, for example, provide stricter criteria for referring patients for carpal tunnel surgery.

They say this type of surgery should be confined to patients with severe symptoms indicative of neurological problems such as numbness or pain, tingling or burning sensation and muscle atrophy, or where severe symptoms interfere with a person's daily work

If a patient does not meet these criteria, the guidelines state, they should be managed by their GP who may suggest alternative treatments such as corticosteroid therapy.

The threshold guidelines are available here