Appointment cancellations at Ennis Hospital rose by almost 75% last year.
Figures released to Aontú show there were 281,996 appointments cancelled at hospitals around the country in 2024 which was up by more than 5% on the previous year.
University Hospital Limerick saw 5,038 cancellations which was down 47% on 2023 while Ennis Hospital experienced a 74% surge with 1,559 procedures cancelled.
Ennistymon-based Midwest Hospital Campaign spokesperson Marie McMahon has been telling Clare FM’s Seán Lyons the figures are “worrying” for people in Clare.
You can listen to the full interview here:
The HSE collects and reports information relating to appointments and procedures which did not go ahead at the original planned date. It is important to emphasise that the term cancellation in this context does not mean that the appointment did not go ahead, rather it did not go ahead on the original planned date and these appointments and procedures are rescheduled, often within a short period of the original appointment.
Reasons hospitals may need to defer planned procedures and appointments include:
Increased ED attendances and admissions resulting in a reduction in availability of bed or theatre capacity for planned procedures.
Unforeseen circumstances including weather events, infection outbreaks or industrial action.
Sick leave or staff shortages.
In relation to Ennis Hospital, of the 1,559 cancellations for 2024 included in the dataset, over 70% of these (1,113) relate to return outpatient attendances. Hospitals follow national guidelines on scheduling outpatients that require that they reschedule them within six weeks of the original appointment date, taking account of the patient’s availability to attend.
In recent years we have expanded local access to outpatient clinics in Ennis with the opening of the new OPD on the Kilrush Road, including new specialties such as rheumatology, paediatric general surgery and a consultant-led respiratory clinic. In 2024, the number of new outpatient attendances at Ennis Hospital grew by 23%, ahead of any other hospital within the HSE Mid West.
This is not to minimise the distress or inconvenience to any patient who has their appointment or procedure deferred and we continue to make every effort to ensure affected patients are rescheduled as soon as possible.
