Revealed: 180,000 hospital appointments called off in an extraordinary year for NI's crisis-hit health service
The ongoing impact of the covid pandemic on patient services in hospitals across Northern Ireland was laid bare today (Thursday)
Stark new figures show that more than 180,000 outpatient appointments were cancelled over the last financial year.
In addition, patients missed a total of 54,952 appointments while 64,167 were cancelled by the patients themselves.
The Department of Health statistics show a breakdown of both inpatient and outpatient activity.
While hospitals called off 180,471 consultant-led appointments in their outpatients, there were 427,732 inpatient and day case admissions – nearly 170,000 less than the previous year.
Overall, there were 702,691 attendances at consultant led outpatient services - a decrease of 50% on attendance levels in 2019/20
Other figures show a marked rise in the number of virtual attendances taking place at consultant led outpatient services
In its report, the Department said the covid pandemic had played a significant part in hospital activity during the period.
“When interpreting the statistics presented in this report, consideration should be given to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on hospital services,” the report said.
“Users should be aware that the pandemic drastically altered the functions of hospitals during the reporting period, including the availability and location of services.
“This has had a direct impact on the outpatient activity observed.”