David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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674. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by appointment type by hospital group and hospital in October 2022 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57790/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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675. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by speciality and appointment type by hospital group and hospital, in October 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57791/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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676. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations by appointment type by hospital group and hospital in October 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57792/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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677. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by speciality and appointment type, in October 2019, by hospital group and hospital, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57793/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 674 to 677, inclusive, together.

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 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.

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.

The level of operational detail requested by the Deputy is not held by the Department and I have asked the HSE to provide it directly to him.