Almost 85,000 waiting for treatment across Cork hospitals

Nearly 85,000 people were waiting for treatment across Cork's six hospitals in June, new data has shown.

There were 34,537 people waiting in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) and 26,038 in Cork University Hospital (CUH) for outpatient treatment last month, according to figures published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

A further 6,141 people were waiting at Mercy University Hospital, 3,771 at Mallow General Hospital, 3,188 at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), and 1,166 in Bantry General Hospital.

Meanwhile, 4,907 people in SIVUHwere awaiting inpatient procedures, along with 2,072 in CUH, 1,123 in the Mercy, 692 in CUMH, 316 in Mallow and 90 in Bantry.

The total, 84,041, marks a slight decrease from the 84,063 waiting in May, while there has also been a small month-on-month decrease in people waiting over a year from 13,900 to 13,756.

As of the end of June there were 50,693 people waiting less than six months, 19,592 waiting six to 12, 7,721 waiting 12 to 18, and 6,035 waiting over 18 months.

The total includes more than 9,000 children, with 8,414 people under the age of 18 on waiting lists for outpatient treatment and 674 for inpatient.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health welcomed the reduction in people waiting longest. 

However, they added: “Notwithstanding these longer-term improvements, waiting lists more recently have been impacted by the ongoing trend of higher demand and increased referrals, which has offset the significantly increased levels of activity that are being delivered in acute hospitals.

“The department will continue to work to improve waiting list performance through ongoing engagement with the HSE and the NTPF,” they added.