Patients cancel more than 131,000 appointments in hospitals across Northern Ireland
The new statistics are revealed today by the Department of Health
Last updated 1st Aug 2024
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)