Waiting list for hospital treatments up to almost 685,000 patients

Hospital waiting list numbers rose again nationally in October by about 6,000, or almost 1 per cent, to 684,800.

While the overall number rose, there were reductions in some lists, according to figures released by the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

The number of people waiting to be treated for inpatient or day-case treatment stood at almost 99,000, down from 101,460 the previous month.

More than 494,530 people were waiting to be seen by consultants at outpatient clinics last month, a reduction from 495,318 the previous month.

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Of this number, 62,925 had been waiting for more than 18 months – an increase of about 2,000 in a month – while 28,420 were waiting between 15 and 18 months and 39,411 had been waiting for 12 to 15 months.

There were another 63,675 people scheduled for follow-up care following an initial treatment.

Some 27,600 people were waiting for a gastrointestinal check.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said in a statement it was the third month in a row the number of patients waiting for inpatient or day-case treatment had fallen and the second month in a row there had been an increase in the total number of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment.

Insourcing and outsourcing

There were 2,143 fewer patients waiting for procedures and 788 fewer patients waiting for outpatient appointments, he said.

“The NTPF has worked with both public and private hospitals to arrange insourcing and outsourcing initiatives,” he said.

“Through these initiatives, almost 17,000 patients have been offered treatment and, of these, over 5,600 patients have accepted an offer of treatment and over 2,300 patients have received their procedure.”

A further €10 million in funding has been allocated to the NTPF between now and the end of the year to reduce waiting lists. This would be used to fund patient treatment across a range of specialities and procedures.

The Private Hospitals Association said the reduction in the number of surgical waiting lists had come as the pace of referrals of patients to private hospitals had increased. The group said that private hospitals would treat as many more patients as possible before Christmas, helped by the €10 million allocation.