Public hospital waiting lists increased by more than 17,200 patients last month, bringing the total to just under one million people waiting for a hospital appointment or procedure, reports RTE.
Data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) for February shows 943,011 patients on some form of public hospital waiting list, compared with 925,773 in January, reports RTE.
The hospitals with the largest inpatient or day-case waiting lists are Galway University Hospitals with over 13,300 adults waiting, Beaumont Hospital with more than 12,000, and the Mater Hospital with over 10,700 patients.
Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) hospitals have 5,881 patients awaiting treatment, with 229 children specifically on CHI spinal surgery waiting lists at the end of February, reports RTE.
A further 48 children are currently suspended from the waiting list due to clinical or personal reasons, or because their surgery is scheduled at another hospital under a CHI programme.
All categories of waiting lists have seen increases, including inpatient or day-case treatments, which now have 114,219 patients waiting, reports RTE.
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There are 642,158 patients waiting for a first-time outpatient appointment and 38,654 awaiting a gastrointestinal scope.
In addition to the national list of 943,011, over 34,000 patients are listed by the NTPF as “suspended,” meaning they are temporarily unfit, unable to attend, or are participating in government initiatives where treatment is delivered in public or private facilities under insourcing or outsourcing measures, reports RTE.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said that while there have been longer-term improvements, recent waiting lists have been affected by higher demand and increased referrals, which have offset the significantly increased hospital activity.
She added that 55%, or roughly 155,000 fewer patients, were waiting over 12 months since September 2021, reports RTE.
The minister noted that the improvements seen towards the end of last year have not continued into 2026, due in part to the expected multi-year trend from the winter surge in demand for unscheduled and emergency care.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association said the NTPF figures show that one in three adults without private health insurance is currently waiting for a public hospital appointment or procedure, reports RTE.
He also requested that the HSE clarify how many of the nearly one million patients on the waiting list are presenting to emergency departments because they cannot access timely care through the waiting list, reports RTE.
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