Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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807. To ask the Minister for Health the number of outpatient consultant appointments by hospital group which were postponed in January 2021 due to the Covid-19 outbreak; the number that have been rescheduled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8458/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled. While every effort is made to avoid cancellation or postponement of planned procedures, the HSE has advised 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.

The HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to Covid-19.

This decision was made arising from the rapid increase in Covid-19 admissions and to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for Covid-19 related activity and time-critical essential work.

Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.

In relation to the specific query raised regarding the postponement and rescheduling of outpatient appointments, as this is a service issue, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.