Number of cancelled operations falls by half

The number of cancelled hospital operations and procedures has almost halved since Health Minister James Reilly’s appointment — but still stands at 13 a day.

New figures show that, despite Dr Reilly’s seemingly endless bad publicity, cancellations are at their lowest rate since at least 2006.

According to records secured under the Freedom of Information Act, 4,713 planned inpatient and day case procedures — ranging from cancer treatment and orthopaedics to surgeries and paediatric care — were cancelled last year.