More than a fifth of patients on waiting lists for hospital outpatient appointments have been waiting for more than a year, the latest official figures show.
There are more than 600,000 patients waiting for an outpatient hospital consultation, with some 137,000 on the list for more than 12 months.
Monthly public hospital waiting list figures, published on Friday, show 74,792 patients have been waiting for outpatient hospital appointments for more than 18 months. Some 338,752 patients have been on hospital waiting lists for less than six months.
Galway University Hospital has the longest waiting lists, with more than 100,000 people waiting for outpatient consultations in the hospital.
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The monthly figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), the State agency set up to reduce public hospital waiting lists, show a further 83,133 patients were waiting for inpatient treatment.
There were 56,716 patients recorded as “suspended” on waiting lists, as they were temporarily unfit or unable to attend their appointments.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said the consistent large numbers waiting for care was of “continuing concern”. Its president, Prof Robert Lander, noted that more than 100,000 children were on waiting lists for the fifth month in a row.
“This is resulting in thousands of children not getting the care they need in a timely way, and the real possibility that they will suffer serious and lasting health and developmental issues that could have been reversed or mitigated against if only they were seen in time,” he said.
“Every single number is an individual child or young person who could be experiencing pain, and a family that may be suffering psychological distress at not knowing when their child will be able to receive treatment,” he said.
Prof Lander said the situation was “wholly unacceptable” and called for deficits in hospital capacity and the issue of consultant posts being left vacant to be addressed in the upcoming budget.
