In yet another indictment of the indifference and inefficiency of successive governments in tackling the hospital waiting lists issue, it has been revealed that 26,838 adults and 2,944 children have been waiting to receive in-patient and elective day care for six months or longer.
And particularly damning for the Coalition is the fact that the number stood at 9,643 adults when they entered government in 2011.
Waiting lists become longer as surgeries are cancelled in order to free up rooms to deal with overcrowding, so the problem is getting worse every single day as the overcrowding crisis continues to escalate.
Over 500 people were left languishing on trolleys on several days this past week alone.