David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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211. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by appointment type, for each March of each year 2022-2024, inclusive by hospital group and hospital, in tabular form. [21516/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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This Government fully acknowledges the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when hospital appointments and procedures are cancelled.

While every effort is made to avoid these postponements of planned procedures, the Health Service Executive (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, 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.

In respect of reporting of cancellations, to improve the long-term efficiency of the service the HSE worked with hospitals and hospital groups in 2022 to develop a process for the collection and collation of data on cancellations. The cancellation data does not measure that a procedure or appointment did not go ahead, rather that the procedure/appointment did not go ahead on the date originally scheduled.

Cancelled hospital procedures/appointments are, where appropriate, rescheduled as early as possible with priority given to patients requiring time-sensitive and urgent treatment

The National Inpatient, Day Case, Planned Procedure (IDPP), and GI Endoscopy waiting list management protocol 2024 issued by the National Treatment Purchase Fund requires hospitals to reschedule elective care appointments within six weeks of cancellation, subject to patient confirmation regarding their availability to attend.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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212. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by appointment type, for Quarter 1 of each year 2022-2024, inclusive, by hospital group and hospital, in tabular form. [21517/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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This Government fully acknowledges the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when hospital appointments and procedures are cancelled.

While every effort is made to avoid these postponements of planned procedures, the Health Service Executive (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, 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.

In respect of reporting of cancellations, to improve the long-term efficiency of the service the HSE worked with hospitals and hospital groups in 2022 to develop a process for the collection and collation of data on cancellations. The cancellation data does not measure that a procedure or appointment did not go ahead, rather that the procedure/appointment did not go ahead on the date originally scheduled.

Cancelled hospital procedures/appointments are, where appropriate, rescheduled as early as possible with priority given to patients requiring time-sensitive and urgent treatment

The National Inpatient, Day Case, Planned Procedure (IDPP), and GI Endoscopy waiting list management protocol 2024 issued by the National Treatment Purchase Fund requires hospitals to reschedule elective care appointments within six weeks of cancellation, subject to patient confirmation regarding their availability to attend.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.