Monthly waiting list figures - 8 December 2023

New hospital waiting list figures published today by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) demonstrate progress made on waiting list reduction across OPD, IPDC and GI Scope waiting lists and Sláintecare target waiting times in November.

As at the end of November, the total number of patients removed from the OPD, IPDC and GI Scope waiting list was c.3.6% (c.56,000) higher than target, with c.13.2% (187,000) more patients removed from the waiting list Year To Date (YTD) than in the same period last year.

As at the end of November 2023:

• 48,728 people are currently exceeding the 12-week inpatient / day case (IPDC) target which is a c.0.3% decrease compared to the end of October
• 8,702 people are exceeding the 12-week GI Scope target which is a c.7.4% decrease compared to the end of October
• 406,491 people are exceeding the 10-week outpatient (OPD) target, which is a c.2.7% decrease compared to the end of October

The total waiting list exceeding the 10/12 week targets of 463,921 is a 10% (51,362) reduction on the figure 515,283 since February 2023.

This progress is significant given the challenging backdrop, in common with health services across Europe, of continuing significantly higher additions to waiting lists than projected.

The figures also show significant reductions in those waiting longest / over 12 months:

• 60% reduction for Outpatient appointments from COVID peak
• 44% reduction for Inpatient/Daycase from COVID peak
• 94% reduction for GI Scope from COVID peak

Additions YTD are c.14% (196,000) higher than the same period in 2022 and c.21.6% (284,000) higher than the same period in 2019. However, against the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, the total waiting list position is c.7.1% (46,000) behind target, as a result of additions being c.6.8% (102,000) higher than projected.

The total number of patients decreased by c.0.4% (2,600) between Dec 2022 and Nov 2023 to c.688,000 patients.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) and other health services attribute higher than anticipated additions to waiting lists to several factors, including post-pandemic pent-up demand.

The latest hospital activity report published monthly by the HSE is now available online. This gives regular insight into acute activity levels, with millions of patients being seen and treated annually within our hospital system alone.

The health service is treating significantly more patients. For the most recently available 12 months of data, there were c.3.6 million outpatient and c.1.8 million inpatient / day case attendances. In addition to this planned (‘scheduled’) care, our hospital system also treated c.1.7 million patients during this same period in emergency (‘unscheduled’) care, which represents a c.11% increase on 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels and reflects the ongoing pressure on hospitals and increased Emergency Department (ED) attendances, particularly amongst older people.

Such pressures have had the expected knock-on impact on scheduled care in many of our hospitals in the first half of this year, which has resulted in some waiting lists temporarily increasing. However, there are many examples of individual hospitals delivering significant improvements in waiting times, despite such challenges.

For example, in the last year, University Hospital Limerick has reduced the number of patients waiting over 15 months for an OPD appointment by 84% in the last year, from 10,713 to 1,672, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise has reduced the number of patients waiting over 9 months for an IPDC procedure by 78% in the last year, from 127 to 28 and University Hospital Waterford has reduced the number of patients waiting over 9 months for colonoscopy or OGD procedures by 100% in the last year, from 65 to zero.

The funding allocated from Budget 2024, €407 million, will facilitate the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving the vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.