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Public hospitals have cancelled around one million patient appointments in the last four years. New figures reveal that the number of scheduled care cancellations have been steadily rising since 2022 and are on course to increase further by the end of this year. The data was analysed by Irish Medical Times ahead of Patient Solutions, a new conference dedicated to identifying and implementing practical, scalable solutions that enhance patient care and outcomes. The event takes place today in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin. Between January 2022 and the end of September this year the HSE recorded a total of 963,822 appointment cancellations. The data strongly suggests that, by the end of this year, cancellations across the four years will surpass one million. The first nine months of 2025 saw more than 220,000 cancellations. This compares to just under 282,000 in the whole of 2024, over 267,000 in 2023 and almost 194,000 in 2022. In the last four years Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) cancelled 144,850 appointments. The hospital group has been mired in controversy over delayed care for children, particularly when it comes to spinal orthopaedic appointments and procedures. Cork University Hospital has cancelled 117,258 appointments since 2022, including 34,494 in the first nine months of this year. Both Dublin’s Mater and St Vincent’s Hospitals have rescheduled more than 99,000 appointments in the last four years, while St James’s Hospital has cancelled 68,189 instances of scheduled care. Hospitals began reporting data on scheduled care cancellations to the HSE’s Business Intelligence Unit in 2022. However, delays to fully implementing the record that year, as well as temporary gaps in data collection across various sites since then, mean that the overall total number of cancellations is likely higher than reported. The HSE does not gather data on the reason why appointments are cancelled, but a spokesperson told IMT that, generally, care deferrals are due to sick leave and staff shortages, hospital overcrowding leading to a lack of beds, and unforeseen circumstances including extreme weather, infection outbreaks and industrial action. “In order to avoid year-on-year increases of cancellations, we urgently need additional inpatient beds that are staffed correctly coupled with the development of community services,” said Phil Ní Sheaghdha, general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. “Growth over the past two years has failed to keep pace with population increases and the rising healthcare needs of an aging population. “To date in 2025, the HSE has increased the nursing and midwifery workforce by just 469 whole-time equivalent posts, a stark contrast to the average annual growth of 1,800 WTEs over the past five years. This slowdown is truly shocking and poses a serious risk to patient safety and timely care.” Chair of the consultants committee of the Irish Medical Organisation, Prof Matthew Sadlier, also pointed to poor capacity as a reason for so many cancellations, as well as a fractured hospital system. “Since 2000 our population is 50 per cent bigger. Fifty per cent more people means a significantly greater number of hospital appointments and admissions,” he said. However, he pointed out additional healthcare capacity, including bed numbers, have not grown to meet this demand. The nature of smaller hospitals – who in some instances may have just one specialist for a whole department – often leaves patients directly impacted. “Because of our small, fractured hospital system many doctors work with very inadequate cross-cover in many small departments,” he added. “If anything happens to a doctor – if they get sick or have a bereavement and they’re off – there’s no cover so all their appointments get cancelled until they come back.” Health officials were keen to point out that any cancelled care is rescheduled, often within a short period of the original appointment. “While the health service does not wish to see a growth in numbers waiting for care, growth in the number of referrals to our hospital services has a positive aspect as it is indicative of people accessing the services that they need, an increased awareness of services and reflects an expansion of services,” a Department of Health spokesperson said.
