THERE was a massive drop in the number of patients’ appointments cancelled in Limerick last year, new figures have revealed.
In 2023, University Hospital Limerick had to cancel 9,449 appointments and procedures. This figure fell in 2024 to 5,038.
University Maternity Hospital cancelled 2,801 appointments in 2023 and just 299 in 2024.
In the city, St John’s hospital had 639 cancellations last year compared to 927 in 2023.
Croom Orthopaedic Hospital cancelled 630 scheduled appointments last year as opposed to 704 the previous year.
The Limerick hospitals are largely bucking a national trend, with figures provided by way of a parliamentary question from Aontú showing a five per cent increase in cancelations nationally.
In the wider Mid West, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals both had an upsurge in cancelled appointments, with 1,559 appointments cancelled in Ennis last year compared to 894 in 2023.
Meanwhile, 1,730 appointments had to be cancelled in Nenagh against 1,560 in 2023.
National guidelines for hospitals state that any cancelled appointment must be rescheduled within six weeks.
The reason for appointments being cancelled can be to do with excessive bed demands resulting from a surge in ED attendances, and outbreak of infectious disease in hospitals, staff shortages due to sickness, unfilled positions, and lack of availability of agency staff or equipment breakdown.
The number of appointments cancelled at Ennis and Nenagh could also be due to the two hospitals being used as step-down facilities when pressure comes on critical beds in UHL.
The figures provided to Aontú show that nationally, nearly 300,000 patients appointments were cancelled in 2024 while waiting lists stand at more than 700,000.
