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Shocking figure of 7,600 deaths last year in Northern Ireland likely to be replicated for those on hospital waiting lists in Republic, warn Consultants 907,000 people on some form of NTPF waiting list, up almost 75,000 (9%) since July 2020; Waiting list crisis long predates pandemic, with 267,000 people added to outpatient waiting lists since 2014 – a 74% increase;  Significant 65-fold increase in the number of patients waiting longer than a year for inpatient or day case treatment over the past decade; Long waiting lists a direct result of Consultant recruitment and retention crisis and years of underinvestment in capacity. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “Irish patients are not getting the hospital treatment that they need. Many thousands are being added to an ever-increasing waiting list for assessment and treatment, which is leading to poorer outcomes. This is unfortunate and unacceptable. The shocking figures revealed this week in Northern Ireland – which has half the number of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment compared with the Republic – shows that in many cases, patients died while awaiting treatment.”

Waiting lists in May again top 900,000, due to public hospital capacity deficits; shortage of acute beds, other facilities and Consultant vacancies cause cancellations in essential scheduled care, IHCA warns

Limited progress made as public hospitals still decades away from achieving Sláintecare wait time targets due to growing capacity deficits 898,000 people on some form of NTPF waiting list; up more than 314,000 (54%) since publication of Sláintecare Report in May 2017;  Government’s landmark plan pledged no-one should wait more than 10 weeks for a public hospital outpatient appointment, yet 345,000 currently on outpatient waiting lists for over 6 months — with almost a 3-fold increase in patients waiting +18 months in past five years; Sláintecare target wait time of just 10 days set for a public hospital diagnostic test; latest figures reveal 143,000 waiting more than 3 months for vital CTs, MRIs or ultrasounds with over 57,000 waiting a year or longer;   Stalled Consultant contract talks must be reconvened with an agreed replacement Independent Chair to address Consultant recruitment crisis and bring waiting lists down.  IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The first five years of the 10-year Sláintecare plan have shown that its waiting list targets are not achievable because public hospitals have a severe shortage of Consultants, theatres, acute beds, diagnostic and other facilities. The continuing deficits in hospital Consultants and public hospital capacity means it could be decades before the waiting time targets set out in Sláintecare can be achieved.”  

 1 in 12 children are now on some form of hospital waiting list across the country as Consultant vacancies increase, says IHCA Record 100,089 children now on some form of NTPF waiting list; more than 1 in 3 (34,300) waiting longer than a year for treatment or assessment by a Hospital Consultant; Additional 8,300 children awaiting diagnostic scans at three Dublin children’s hospitals not included in NTPF waiting lists;  Almost 1 in 5 Consultant Paediatric posts are vacant or filled on a temporary basis;  Stalled Consultant contract talks must be reconvened with replacement Independent Chair to address Consultant recruitment crisis and bring waiting lists down.  IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “For the first time, the monthly NTPF figures have recorded over 100,000 children on waiting lists for hospital care, with more than one in three of these children waiting longer than a year to be treated or assessed by a Consultant. This trend is worrying and is resulting in thousands of children not getting the care they need in a timely way, and the real possibility that they will suffer health and developmental issues that could have been reversed or mitigated against if only they were seen in time.”

896,600 people on some form of public hospital waiting list; over 99,000 of these are children; 12,800 people added to three main waiting lists in the first two months of 2022, missing Government reduction target by 34,800, despite new waiting list action plan;   Latest €350m plan launched just two weeks ago unlikely to meet target of reducing waiting lists by 132,000 (18%) by end of 2022;   Urgent action needed to address public hospital capacity deficits and Consultant vacancies, say Consultants. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan published by the Department of Health just two weeks ago has fallen at the first hurdle. The NTPF figures released today confirm our fears that these waiting lists may take a decade or more to get under control without simultaneously resolving the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis in our public hospitals and filling the one in five Consultant posts vacant or filled on a temporary basis.”

Commenting on today’s publication of the HSE Waiting List Action Plan, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association said:   “We were not consulted in the formulation of this plan so are only seeing it today for the first time. It comes at a time when there is a real credibility issue in our health system.    “That official health policy now provides for patient wait times of up to a year for a procedure and 18 months for initial assessment reflects the scale of the crisis we are now in. Almost 900,000 people are currently on a waiting list with 245,000 of these people waiting over a year for either a procedure or to see a hospital consultant. They are waiting for the primary reasons that we have a massive shortage of the hospital consultants, beds, and theatre facilities required to assess and treat patients in a timely manner.    “There is no detail in the plan on sustainable additional capacity to meet these latest targets. The 45 actions listed in the plan don’t address the fundamental issue of the overwhelming shortage of consultants, acute hospital beds, theatre and other frontline resources. Indications that as much as 25% of care will be outsourced to the private system is questionable given it is unclear that such capacity even exists at this point.  

Wide disparities found across hospital waiting lists in “postcode lottery”, as patients in Waterford, Limerick, Galway and parts of Cork and Dublin face longest waiting times Hospitals in Cork South-Central, Limerick City and Dublin Central have highest outpatient waiting lists - up to four times the national average;   Analysis comes as over 893,000 people are on some form of NTPF waiting list, including almost 98,000 children - an overall increase of 30,000 in the past year;  Urgent action needed to address public hospital capacity deficits and Consultant vacancies. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “These shocking figures should be a wake-up call to Government to urgently address the twin deficits of a shortage of Consultants and a lack of sufficient public hospital capacity to resolve the record waiting lists we continue to experience. A patient’s access to care should not depend on where they live. The Government needs to address this ‘postcode lottery’ and realise that any waiting list plan which does not simultaneously address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis is destined to fail. Our patients deserve better.” 

Urgent action needed to address public hospital capacity deficits and Consultant vacancies Over 879,000 people on some form of NTPF waiting list, including 96,000 children;  114 people added to public hospital waiting lists every single day throughout 2021; Over 100% increases in outpatient and inpatient/day case waiting lists at some public hospitals over the past 12 months;  One-in-five permanent hospital consultant posts remain vacant or are filled on a temporary basis. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “More people were waiting for hospital treatment at the end of 2021 than at the start of the year, despite a four-month action plan from Government to address the issue. This is simply not good enough, irrespective of the pressures we are facing during this latest Covid wave…we must give priority to it.”

Over 897,000 people waiting to be treated or assessed by a hospital Consultant across the country;  An increase of more than 58,400 people added to the lists so far in 2021; Inroads in main outpatient and inpatient/day case lists are offset by escalating delays in other lists such as planned procedures;  Ongoing Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The scale and complexity of what the health service now faces over the winter months and into 2022 is unprecedented. We have a backlog of care greater than anything we have seen over the past decade. We are not bringing these lists under control quick enough and the lack of progress this year is really damning.”

Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Gynaecology, and Rheumatology outpatient waiting lists in North-East hospitals increased by 49%, or 5,182 additional people, in past six years;  15,868 people awaiting assessment by a Consultant in Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Gynaecology and Rheumatology at Cavan, Drogheda, Dundalk and Navan hospitals; Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan has seen outpatient waiting lists almost double compared with 2015; Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda now has the fourth largest Dermatology outpatient waiting list (4,500 people) in the entire country; One in four approved permanent hospital Consultant posts in the North-East are not filled as needed, which is the root cause of delays in providing timely care to the 36,000 people on waiting lists in the region. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of consultants across the North-East region is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients. The Government must make good on its promise to deliver the extra beds, extra consultants and extra facilities so badly needed to meet the healthcare needs of the 36,000 people in the North-East currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a hospital Consultant.”