News

Instead of reduction of 18,300 people on waiting lists by end of October, numbers have reduced by 10,700 since August – a 7,600 shortfall; 904,000 people still on some form of public hospital waiting list; 97,400 of these are children; 70-fold increase seen in the number of patients waiting over 12 months for hospital inpatient or day case treatment since 2012; 217 people have been added to public hospital waiting lists every single day since the start of 2021 – that’s 9 people added every hour, 24 hours a day; 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 four-month waiting list action plan published by the Department of Health and HSE in October was never ambitious enough, given the fact that we have nearly 1 million people waiting for care. Unfortunately, the plan’s modest targets are now unlikely to be met by year end. Any medium-term Government plan to address the record waiting lists which does not simultaneously address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis is destined to fail.” 

Over the past six years almost 87,000 additional people have been added to outpatient waiting lists at Dublin hospitals which now total 242,000 - a 56% increase overall. Number of patients waiting longer than a year for hospital treatment has increased by 42% since 2015, with a massive 4-fold increase in children waiting longer than 12 months for care. Predicted severe flu season would make catching up on backlog of missed care extremely challenging say hospital consultants. Consultant recruitment crisis in Dublin’s acute hospital and mental health services is root cause of delays in providing care, accounting for over one third of all consultant posts unfilled on permanent basis nationally. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “Our health service, hospital management and clinical teams in the capital need fully funded plans in place to fill the 240 vacant permanent consultant posts across Dublin’s acute hospital and mental health services and increase hospital capacity, ahead of what may be the most challenging winter ever for the health service.” 

Over the past six years nearly 31,000 additional people have been added to outpatient waiting lists at hospitals in the Mid-West region - a 113% increase overall; The inpatient/day case waiting lists in the UL Hospitals Group have increased by a third over the same period, and now total 6,075 patients;  University Hospital Limerick has the second highest outpatient waiting list in the country, increasing nearly three-fold since 2015 to over 48,000 people; Consultant recruitment crisis in region’s hospitals is root cause of delays in providing care, with around 1 in 3 permanent Consultant posts vacant or not filled as needed. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of consultants across the UL Hospitals Group is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients in the Mid-West region. Meeting the healthcare needs of the 69,000 people currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a Consultant at hospitals within the group will only be possible by urgently filling these vacancies and expanding the region’s hospital beds, operating theatre and other essential hospital facilities now.” 

Record 910,000 people now on some form of public hospital waiting list; More than 1 million people predicted to be waiting for treatment by the end of the year; 98,190 children on NTPF waiting lists; 4 in 10 waiting longer than a year to be assessed by a Consultant; Almost 150-fold increase seen in the number of patients waiting over 12 months for hospital inpatient or day case treatment since 2012; Number waiting for an outpatient appointment with a Consultant has increased by over 41,000 in the past year alone and by almost 175,000 (37%) since May 2017, when Sláintecare reforms were launched; 261 people have been added to public hospital waiting lists every single day since the start of 2021 – almost 11 people added every hour, 24 hours a day; Ongoing Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists Prof Alan Irvine, President, IHCA: “The ongoing talks between the Department of Health, the HSE and hospital consultant representatives concerning employment contracts must deliver on the ‘unambiguous commitment’ made by the Minister for Health to resolve the pay inequity issue for all Consultants contracted since 2012. This issue is critical to filling the one in five permanent consultant posts that are currently vacant or filled on a temporary basis and reducing these unacceptable patient waiting times. If Government fails to develop a meaningful plan to fill the more than 720 permanent Consultant posts that remain vacant, its plan on reducing waiting lists will fail.”

208 people have been added to public hospital waiting lists every single day over the past year – almost 9 people an hour, 24 hours a day;  Trust and culture within the Irish public health service must be addressed in order to tackle unacceptable waiting lists, capacity deficits and failures in the recruitment and retention of medical specialists;   New #CareCantWait campaign video launched by Association to highlight the impact of the consultant crisis on the ongoing plight of people waiting for care;  IHCA Annual Conference will hear from Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly TD, and Opposition Spokesperson David Cullinane TD. IHCA President, Professor Alan Irvine: “Unless we change health service management culture, do the hard work of re-establishing trust, and improve working relationships, it is difficult to see how the Department can ever deliver an effective and empathetic public health service for the Irish people.”

907,617 people now on some form of public hospital waiting list in Ireland; Number waiting for an outpatient appointment has increased by over 173,000 (36%) since May 2017, when Sláintecare reforms were launched; Record number of people now waiting longer than 18 months for either an outpatient appointment (192,764) or hospital treatment (14,263); Strong, consistent, and committed leadership needed at top levels of Government and HSE to steer Ireland’s health system away from crisis point;  Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “Those of us who work in healthcare have proven that even in the most unprecedented of challenges, we can deliver solutions. It is now beyond time for those in leadership positions to do likewise.”

Over 127,700 people on outpatient waiting list at hospitals across the Saolta University Health Care Group, an increase of 53,000 (72%) since 2015;  Number of people waiting for inpatient/day case care is over 17,200; with a further 7,700 awaiting endoscopies - a 4-fold increases since 2015; 3,600 additional patients waiting longer than a year for inpatient/day case treatment, a 2.5-fold increase from 2,266 to 5,915 in past six years;  Consultant recruitment crisis is root cause of delays in providing care, with 1 in 5 permanent consultant posts vacant or unfilled as needed in the region. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “Covid-19 and the cyberattack have unmasked deep fundamental deficiencies in our health system which we always knew were there, but which have now been exposed in a way previously unseen. Meeting the healthcare needs of the 152,000 people in the West and North-West regions currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a consultant will only be possible by urgently filling vacant permanent hospital consultant posts.” 

Record 908,519 people now on some form of NTPF waiting list;  652,498 people are awaiting an outpatient appointment with a consultant, up more than 51,000 (+8.5%) on the same time last year;  More than 268,500 are waiting longer than a year for a public hospital outpatient appointment for assessment  - up 15% since July 2020 and a 7-fold increase over the past seven years;  20,513 patients are waiting over a year for hospital care, a massive 88-fold increase in such long waiters since 2012; Government must work with consultant representatives to fill the 1 in 5 permanent consultant posts that are vacant to reduce waiting lists; Consultant contract discussions critically important to fill vacant consultant posts and enable public hospitals to provide high-quality care to patients without unacceptable delays IHCA Vice President Prof Rob Landers: “For the first time ever, and as unfortunately predicted, more than 900,000 people are now on some form of a public hospital waiting list to be treated or assessed by a consultant. Every single one of these represents a person and a family seeking healthcare, often while experiencing pain, suffering and the psychological distress at not knowing when they will be able to receive treatment. As Hospital Consultants, we want to help alleviate this distress and provide the care they need. But in order to do this effectively,  the consultant recruitment and retention crisis must be addressed effectively to fill the one in five permanent consultant posts that are currently vacant or filled on a temporary basis.”

As many as 900,000 people could be on some form of acute public hospital waiting list when latest data is published;   Number of people waiting for inpatient or day case treatment has grown by more than 31,000 in the past decade – an increase of 69%;  100-fold increase in those waiting on same list for longer than 12 months since May 2012 (from 199 people to 20,820 in May 2021); In addition, due to insufficient consultant staffing and vacancies, a further 286,000 people are waiting on public hospital outpatient lists to be assessed by a consultant compared with 2014, an increase of 84%; Covid-19 & HSE cyberattack cannot mask long-standing capacity and consultant deficits in the Irish healthcare system; Consultants call for expedited planning from Government to urgently address waiting lists, deficits, and staffing;  Consultant contract discussions critically important to fill vacant consultant posts and enable public hospitals to provide high-quality care to patients without unacceptable delays.  IHCA Vice President, Professor Rob Landers: “Over the last decade, the situation has progressively deteriorated to a point where we are now in an absolute crisis. The Government and health service must stop hiding behind the pandemic and cyberattack as the main reasons for our growing waiting lists. We need multi-annual budgeting from the Department of Health and to bring together a plan to sort this problem out once and for all.”

131,000 people waiting to see a Consultant in the South/South-West Hospital Group in May - an increase of 37% or 35,000 additional people in six years; 69,000 people are on outpatient waiting lists in Cork hospitals, a fifth more (+11,000) than in 2015; Inpatient and day-case numbers waiting have increased by 17% in SSWHG and by 42% in Cork Hospitals since 2015;  30-fold increase in number of patients waiting longer than a year for treatment in past 9 years;  Severe shortage of hospital consultants in Cork and SSWHG is main contributor to the unacceptable delays and growing waiting lists; around 1 in 5 permanent consultant posts in the SSWHG region are unfilled; Recruitment crisis exacerbated by current proposals for a new consultant contract. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of hospital consultants in our public health service in Cork and the southern region is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients. These growing waiting lists are not simply a result of Covid-19 but demonstrate the impact of years of consultant shortages and underinvestment in capacity across public hospitals in the region.”