Patients in East top waiting lists

ALMOST 80% of people still waiting more than 12 months for hospital treatment are based in the East.

Up to the end of June this year, 4,641 adults in the region were waiting 12 months to two years, and almost 55% were waiting for more than two years for treatment.

"I find it difficult to understand why some of the hospitals in the eastern region are not having the same rate of referrals to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) as the rest of the country," said Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients' Association.