Hospital Waiting Lists Hit Record High As Over 470,000 Patients Await Treatment

New figures have shown that over 470,000 patients are currently awaiting hospital care in Ireland. A report by the National Treatment Purchase Fund has shown that waiting lists for outpatient and inpatient care have hit record levels, with 85,130 patients waiting over 12 months for outpatient appointments in May. While the rate of growth has slowed down, hospitals around the country are still struggling to deal with demand and Tallaght Hospital currently has over 10,000 patients who have been on outpatient waiting lists for over 12 months. At Galway University Hospital, 9,000 patients have been waiting for over a year and the longest outpatient waiting lists nationally are said to be in the specialities of ear, nose and throat, orthopaedics and general surgery. There are currently 67,359 people on the waiting list for inpatient procedures in Ireland.