More than 88,000 on Cork hospital waiting lists

More than 88,000 people including over 10,000 children were on waiting lists at Cork hospitals at the end of July, according to newly released figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

The figures show that Cork hospital waiting lists have increased by around 2.7% from July 2023.

Some 7,434 adults and 765 children were on inpatient waiting lists, with South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) having the highest amount of people awaiting inpatient treatment.

A total of 4,065 adults and 400 children were awaiting treatment in SIVUH followed by 1,541 adults and 346 children in Cork University Hospital (CUH).

SIVUH inpatient waiting lists show 2,939 people waiting for 0-6 months, 811 for 6-12 months, 382 for 12-18 months, and 333 for more than 18 months, while 1,108 in CUH had been on the list for 0-6 months, 414 for 6-12 months, 156 for 12-18 months, and 209 for longer than 18 months.

There were also 636 adults and 17 children on waiting lists for inpatient treatment in the Mercy, 547 people in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), 413 adults and two children in Mallow, and 232 people in Bantry.

The outpatient waiting lists were almost 10 times as high as the inpatient lists, with 70,156 adults and 9,740 children awaiting inpatient treatment. CUH had the highest waiting lists for outpatient procedures, with 30,881 adults and 6,195 children, followed by SIVUH with 26,507 adults and 2,938 children on lists.

There were 5,819 people on outpatient waiting lists in the Mercy, 3,780 adults and 547 children in Mallow, 2,325 adults and 60 children in CUMH, and 844 people in Bantry also.

Some 19,567 people in CUH had been waiting up to six months for outpatient treatment, 8,054 are waiting 6-12 months, 4,363 are waiting 12-18 months, and 5,093 are waiting more than 18 months.

Nationally, waiting list figures have also increased, with the Department of Health saying the figures “demonstrate the continuing demands for care in our acute hospitals.”

They explained that the July figures “show that there have been significant reductions in the number of patients waiting longest, saying: “There has been a c.30% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 18 months since this time last year.”