Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 1 Mar 2000

Vol. 515 No. 4

Written Answers. - Surgical Appointments.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

117 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of surgical appointments cancelled in each hospital in 1999; the number of persons whose surgery was cancelled in 1999 and who are still awaiting surgery; and the number of appointments for surgery which were cancelled on two or more occasions in 1999. [6431/00]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

My Department does not routinely collect information in relation to numbers of cancelled elective procedures. The level of elective activity in the acute hospital system is planned by local management over a 12 month period having regard to anticipated levels of emergency admissions and the overall resources available. This forms a central part of the service planning process which is required of health boards under the Health (Amendment) Act, 1996.

The unpredictable nature of activity generated by emergency admissions means that cancellations of elective procedures are inevitable from time to time as the system tries to cope with unexpected peaks. As part of the service planning process, it is a matter for agencies to attempt to take account of these peaks and troughs when planning their elective activity levels over a 12 month period. It is important that cancellations of elective procedures are viewed, therefore, in the context of overall levels of activity delivered in the acute hospital sector against agreed service plans for the twelve month period. In this context, it should be noted that the total number of dis charges, both in-patient and day-patient, for all hospitals for the first ten months of 1999 was 689,644 which was about 2.5% of an increase on the figure of 673,015 for the same period in 1998.