Waiting list figures for treatment at Cork hospitals ‘too long’, says HSE

The HSE has acknowledged hospital waiting list figures in Cork are “too long”, with new data showing almost 83,000 people waiting for care at the end of February.

The figures, published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), show there were 82,937 people awaiting treatment at the end of last month, of which 73,173 were outpatients and 9,764 were inpatients. This represents an almost 4% increase on the figure of 79,846 during the same stage in 2025.

Among those awaiting treatment at the end of February, 9,335 were children, representing 11.2% of all cases.

The hospital with the largest number of inpatients and outpatients awaiting care was South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital with 39,561, followed by Cork University Hospital (CUH) at 27,450.

There were 7,060 patients waiting at the Mercy; 4,415 at Mallow General Hospital; 3,366 at Cork University Maternity Hospital, and 1,085 waiting at Bantry General Hospital.

Outpatients

Almost 60% (43,588) of outpatients had been waiting up to six months for treatment; with 16,964 waiting between six and 12 months; 6,507 waiting between 12-18 months, and 6,113 waiting for longer than 18 months.

A spokesperson for the HSE’s South West branch told The Echo that the service “recognises that hospital waiting times in Cork remain too long and understands the impact on patients and families”.

“Working with all Cork hospitals, we are making steady progress despite higher demand,” the spokesperson said.

“We will continue to prioritise the longest waiters and work with Cork hospitals to improve access to care.”

Daily trolley figures published by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show there were 164 people treated without a bed across Cork hospitals last week, amid a surge in norovirus cases seen at CUH.

The HSE spokesperson further said while CUH expects that the outbreak on the ward initially affected will be declared closed “shortly”, some new cases continue to arise.

“As we continue to see a high number of patients with norovirus infection in CUH, with some cases arising from outside the hospital, full visitor restrictions will remain in place and will continue this week,” the spokesperson said.

“The number of staff with norovirus has significantly reduced since the restrictions have been put in place, which is a positive development, and which demonstrates that the visitor restrictions are having an impact.”