Over 700 hospital procedures a day cancelled in first six months of 2023

The figures show that St Vincent's Hospital has cancelled nearly 19,000 procedures this year

Over 700 hospital procedures a day were cancelled or postponed in the first half of this year.

In the first six months of 2023, 127,213 procedures were moved.

The data released to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane shows that of that number, some 23,665 of the cancelled procedures were within the Children's Health Ireland group.

While the figure compares with 170,986 for all of 2022, the HSE has cautioned that a like-for-like comparison is difficult because of different factors.

The figures show that St Vincent's Hospital has cancelled nearly 19,000 procedures this year. This includes 14,129 return outpatient appointments and 4,706 new out patient appointments. The hospital did not cancel any chemotherapy or dialysis procedures. 

The Mater Hospital saw some 11,905 cancellations, with 7,120 return appointments, 3,376 new outpatient appointments, 1185 elective procedures and 66 GI scopes.

Mr Cullinane said that the cancellations were due to hospital overcrowding and rejected the idea that deferred treatment was acceptable.

"We've seen so many cancellations because of the overcrowding in hospitals. It's obviously going to impact people. The point is that people are being asked to wait longer because there is a capacity issue.

The data released to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane shows that some 23,665 of the cancelled procedures were within the Children's Health Ireland group. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

"I don't accept the HSE's response. Of course care is rescheduled, that's the bare minimum, but people end up waiting longer in part because we don't have the capacity to see people quickly. If you look at the comparison with 2022, it is likely there will be a massive increase in the numbers and that shows this isn't just a seasonal thing.

"If you look at all of that data - wait times are up, ED leavers are up, cancellations and bed days lost are increased. All of the data shows that this is not just a seasonal thing. All of those are symptoms of a much bigger problem.

"All of these problems are from a lack of capacity and a lack of a plan."

A HSE spokesperson said that the 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) waiting list management protocol 2017 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."

The spokesperson said that in 2022 the HSE delivered more than 556,000 inpatient cases, 93,000 GI scopes, 172,000 dialysis sessions, 1,020,000 day cases and 3,400,000 outpatient appointments.

The spokesperson said that the cancellation data collection process commenced in Q1 2022 and "as such there are data gaps for the earlier part of the year" and comparing last year to this year was not possible.

However Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients' Association said that delayed care impacts on peoples' ability to plan and to live their lives.

"Almost one in three people who don't have private health insurance are on a waiting list. And it's not just the numbers, it's the time waiting."

A spokesperson for the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association said the number could hit a quarter of a million this year.

"Essential surgical procedures and other scheduled care is being cancelled at an alarming rate due to the lack of capacity in our public hospitals.

"We are facing the real prospect of 250,000 hospital cancellations by the end of 2023 if the critical shortage of beds isn’t immediately addressed and public hospital capacity is not expanded urgently to match growing patient demand for care."