More than 83,000 on hospital waiting lists in Cork

More than 83,000 people were on waiting lists across hospitals in Cork last month. The figures, published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), show that almost 74,000 were outpatients and just over 9,600 were inpatients.

While this marks a slight decrease on the near 85,000 people awaiting treatment across Cork hospitals at the end of March, it represents an approximate 4.2% increase on the number of patients waiting for care during the same month in 2025.

The majority of people, almost 40,000, were waiting to be seen at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH), followed by just under 27,500 at Cork University Hospital (CUH), and over 7,300 at Mercy University Hospital.

Among those awaiting treatment were 9,410 children.

Waiting list figures

So far this year, hospital waiting list figures in Cork continued to rise between January and March, with April seeing only a less than 1% decrease in the backlog across CUH, SIVUH, the Mercy, Mallow General Hospital, Bantry General Hospital and CUMH.

Speaking to The Echo, Social Democrats Cork South Central TD, Pádraig Rice, party spokesperson on health, said the Minister for Health needs to get to grips with the permanent waiting list crisis in the health service.

“The news that a recruitment freeze will be implemented in the south west region will only worsen the problem in Cork’s hospitals,” said Mr Rice. “If administration staff cannot be hired, frontline staff will end up picking up the slack."

He said that this would then divert staff from patient care, where capacity is already stretched thin.

“Cork urgently needs more bed capacity, additional staff and crucially, progress on the elective hospital. This new hospital is desperately needed to ensure that emergency and urgent care does not continue to crowd out non-emergency, planned procedures," he added.

“This hospital was supposed to be completed by 2027, but a planning application still hasn’t even been submitted – this isn’t good enough.” 

Sinn Féin Cork South Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said these latest figures are “really worrying”.

“Behind them are patients across Cork who are waiting inordinate amounts of time, often in pain and discomfort,” said Mr Ó Laoghaire.

“Every delay has a ripple effect, leading to missed or delayed diagnoses, worsening conditions, greater pressure on families, and avoidable admissions into overcrowded hospitals.

“We also cannot ignore the reality that hospitals are cancelling care frequently because elective and emergency care are still not properly separated.

“The health service in Cork needs serious capacity and serious workforce planning because the core problems are staring us in the face.

“The big solution to waiting lists is regional elective centres, but progress in Cork is very slow,” he added.

“Patients in Cork need shorter waits, real ambition, and a government that steps up and delivers.”