Short notice cancellations - an insight into Irish surgical waiting lists

Background The reasons underlying prolonged waiting lists for surgery in Ireland are multifactorial. Patient-related factors including non-attendances contribute in part to the current waiting times. Aims To determine the rate of short notice cancellation for day case surgery in a model 2 HSE hospital over a 1-month period and to implement an intervention to try and reduce the rate of cancellation. Methods The cancellation rate was documented over a 1-month period in the hospital. An intervention was then implemented, involving a phone call to the patient from a member of the surgical team to attempt to reduce the cancellation rate. Cancellations were re-audited after the implementation of the phone intervention. Results The initial audit revealed a cancellation rate of 39.7% during the first month prior to implementation of the phone intervention. A phone call intervention from a member of the surgical team was associated with a decrease in cancellations from 39.7 to 14.6% (p < 0.01). Conclusions While cancellations remained high even after our intervention, a simple phone call was effective and more than halved our cancellation rate. Future efforts need to focus on increasing awareness of patient responsibility for attending scheduled appointments and procedures.