Almost 87,000 people on waiting lists at Cork hospitals 

Almost 87,000 people were on waiting lists at Cork hospitals at the end of August, according to new figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Some 76,700 adults and 10,277 children were on inpatient and outpatient waiting lists at the end of last month, a slight drop from July when 77,590 adults and 10,505 children were waiting to be seen.

The latest NTPF figures show that there were 69,500 adults and 9,564 children on outpatient waiting lists in Cork hospitals at the end of last month.

Cork University Hospital had the highest number of people that were waiting to be seen, with 29,789 adults and 6,043 children on outpatient waiting lists.

The South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) recorded the second-highest waiting lists for outpatient appointments with 27,000 adults and 2,942 children waiting to be seen.

There were 5,516 adults and one child on outpatient waiting lists at the Mercy University Hospital; 3,908 adults and 528 children at Mallow General Hospital; 2,345 adults and 50 children at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH); and 942 adults at Bantry General Hospital.

Inpatient waiting lists 

About 7,200 adults and 713 children were on inpatient waiting lists in Cork at the end of August, with SIVUH having the highest number of people awaiting inpatient treatment.

A total of 3,919 adults and 377 children were awaiting treatment in SIVUH at the end of August.

At CUH there were 1,441 adults and 335 children waiting for treatment.

There were also 606 adults on waiting lists for inpatient treatment in the Mercy University Hospital, 566 people in CUMH, 417 adults and one child at Mallow General Hospital, and 251 adults at Bantry General Hospital.

National picture 

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Health said the figures show the increasing demand for care, given the country’s growing and ageing population, which meant that nationally the number of patients on waiting lists has increased marginally.

At the end of August there were 712,821 people on the total acute hospital waiting lists, which represents an increase of less than 1% in the last year, it said.

“The figures also show, however, significant reductions in the number of patients waiting longest,” it added.

It noted that there have been significant improvements in the average length of time that patients are waiting, with the waiting time on the OPD list reducing from an average 13.2 months in July 2021 to just over seven months.

“There has been a c18% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 12 months since this time last year, and a corresponding reduction of c28% in the number waiting over 18 months,” it stated.

The department highlighted improvements in waiting lists at CUH, where an additional 397 patients were seen on the OPD respiratory medicine waiting list, which was reduced by 42% to the end of July. It said, however, that while there have been improvements in waiting times and in the level of activity being delivered across the country, increased demand and higher-than-anticipated levels of additions to waiting lists have resulted in the volume of patients waiting on lists remaining “too high”.