Nearly 4,400 surgeries for children were cancelled over the last three years.
That’s according to new data from Children’s Health Ireland.
The number of surgery cancellations for children has dropped significantly over the years from 1,800 in 2023 to 1,031 in 2025.
Over the last three years, the CHI figures show 700 of those procedures were called off due to ward beds not being available.
The biggest reason for cancellation, with around 1,100 cases, was where the patient was deemed not medically fit enough to go through with the operation.
424 surgeries couldn’t go ahead because a patient didn’t turn up, while parents and children refused to go ahead with the operation at least 31 times.
78 surgeries had to be cancelled due to clinical staff or equipment not being available.
