Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when hospital appointments and procedures are cancelled. While every effort is made to avoid cancellations or postponements, they can happen for a variety of reasons, including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand, and unforeseen circumstances that may impact a service.

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 follow HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.Cancelled hospital appointments and procedures are, where appropriate, rescheduled as early as possible with priority given to patients requiring time-sensitive and urgent treatment.

In the last week, I have agreed a package of new measures with the HSE to alleviate the pressures being experienced at University Hospital Limerick. I have directed the HSE to undertake a range of actions relating to hospital performance, as well as agreeing a range of measures to increase capacity across the region. This includes improvements and increases in beds, staffing, patient flow and access to Medical Assessment Units across the Midwest.