‘Real concerns behind the numbers’ on hospital waiting lists in Cork

According to figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), almost 64,000 people were waiting for an outpatient appointment at hospitals in Cork at the end of December, while more than 5,700 people were waiting for an inpatient or day-case procedure.
According to figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), almost 64,000 people were waiting for an outpatient appointment at hospitals in Cork at the end of December, while more than 5,700 people were waiting for an inpatient or day-case procedure.
Nationally, 606,230 people were waiting for outpatient appointments in December, while 72,475 were waiting for an inpatient or day-case procedure.
The figures come at a time when many hospitals in Cork have deferred, suspended or reduced non-urgent activities in response to the recent rise in Covid-19 cases. Some procedures and outpatient clinics are continuing.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association (IPA) told
, that people have contacted the organisation and voiced fears that they are going to be “forgotten about”.“The concerns I have about it and the worries that I hear from people... is that their fear is that they are going to be forgotten and they are going to be the collateral damage of Covid-19.”