Almost 85,000 people waiting to receive treatment in Cork hospitals

Almost 85,000 people are awaiting treatment in Cork hospitals as of the end of October, with latest figures suggesting recent progress is slowing down.

Of these, 18,888 people are waiting more than a year for an outpatient procedure or an inpatient procedure in one of six Cork hospitals, latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show.

The total figure of 84,724 marks a 3.8% decrease from July of this year, when waiting list figures peaked at 88,095, but it is just a 0.7% decrease from September of this year, suggesting that progress in waiting list reduction is slowing.

There were 26,878 adults and 5,766 children awaiting outpatient treatment in Cork University Hospital (CUH), as well as 28,168 adults and 2,994 children awaiting outpatient treatment in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH).

Additionally, 5,444 adults in Mercy University Hospital (MUH), 3,961 adults and 542 children in Mallow General Hospital, 2,425 adults and 70 children in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), and 723 adults in Bantry were on waiting lists for outpatient procedures.

Reduction

While SIVUH saw a reduction of 255 in the amount of people waiting 12-18 months, it saw an increase of 259 waiting more than 18 months compared to last month for outpatient treatment.

CUH, CUMH, Mallow, and MUH also saw the amount of people in the 12-18 age band reduce but the amount in the 18-plus band grow in the last month.

A further 7,089 adults and 664 children were awaiting inpatient treatment — 3,993 of them in SIVUH and 1,885 in CUH. There were also 608 people on inpatient waiting lists at MUH, 592 in CUMH, 431 in Mallow, and 244 in Bantry.

The majority of those on inpatient waiting lists in Cork were waiting for pain relief or plastic surgery.

Progress

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the latest figures “demonstrate the progress achieved through the multi-annual action plan approach to address long wait times for care.”

They said that nationally, there has been a 16% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 12 months since this time last year, and a corresponding reduction of 24% in the number waiting over 18 months.

Many individual hospitals have implemented measures to deliver reductions in both their waiting lists and waiting times in the year to date to the end of September, they said.

The spokesperson added: “In Cork University Hospital, the OPD [outpatient department] rheumatology waiting list has been reduced by 45.6% since the beginning of the year with an additional 708 patients being seen.

“This was achieved by increasing capacity through additional WTEs [whole time equivalents] and delivery of full packages of care, including initial and follow up consultations, required diagnostics, and clinical/nursing support.”