Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Health the type of procedures that were cancelled or postponed in regard to the recent cancellations of elective procedures at the children’s hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52381/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Maintaining scheduled care access for all patients is a key priority for hospitals. I fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled, particularly for clinically urgent procedures.

While every effort is made to avoid cancellation or postponement of planned procedures, the HSE advise that planned procedures and operations can be postponed or cancelled for a variety of reasons including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand, medical reasons, and patient choice.

In relation to the specific question raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to reply to the Deputy directly.