The Health Minister talks on hospital waiting queues.

Minister Swann has stated that the latest data indicate the scope of the waiting list situation and the necessity for long-term support.

Today’s reported numbers do not include the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust, which is currently converting to an electronic records system, and hence do not provide a complete picture.

Speaking today, the Health Minister stated, “These figures clearly show the scale of our waiting list crisis and highlight the need for multi-year funding to address our waiting list situation.”

At the end of December 2023, 341,910 patients in four Trusts were awaiting their first consultant-led outpatient consultation. This represents a 1% increase from September 30, 2023, and a 9.8% increase from December 31, 2022.

However, these numbers show that, despite a challenging budgetary context, small gains have been accomplished via hard work across the health system with the adoption of the Elective Care Framework.

While inpatient and day case admittance waiting lists remain unacceptable, the number of people on them has steadily decreased.

This is the sixth consecutive quarter in which treatment waiting lists have decreased. This is the longest-lasting decline since at least 2008.

Overall, the number of patients awaiting inpatient and day case admission has decreased by 6.4% since September 30, 2023, and by 12.7% since December 31, 2022. Over the last 18 months, the treatment waiting list has decreased by 14.4%.

Waiting times for trauma, orthopaedic, and general surgery have all improved, which is noteworthy. These are two of the specializations with the longest wait times.