More than 26,000 on waiting list for surgery

MORE than 5,000 people joined the queue of public patients waiting in excess of three months for surgery since the end of 2010.

At the end of February, the overall figure stood at 26,028, up from 20,635 at the end of December.

More than 2,000 people — 454 children and 1,571 adults — have been waiting more than 12 months.