Patients cancel more than 131,000 appointments in hospitals across Northern Ireland

New figures released today (Thursday) show a big increase in cancelled appointments by patients in hospitals across Northern Ireland.

The Department of Health figures reveal patients cancelled of 125,796 face-to-face appointments with a consultant and 5,352 virtual appointments.

That represents a rise of nearly 10% on the overall 2020/21 figure.

In addition, patients did not attend 85,043 face-to-face appointments and 10,736 virtual appointments during last year - without cancelling.

However, the new statistics also show that hospitals cancelled 140,242 face-to-face appointments and 21,877 virtual appointments. That is a slight decrease on previous figures.

The figures do not include the South Eastern Health Trust.

Virtual attendances, in particular, are on the rise.

Overall, there were 1.3m attendances at a consultant-led outpatient service in hospitals throughout Northern Ireland.

This is a hike of 1.6% since 2022/23 (1,282,301)