Hospital faces €1.75m waiting list fine

A major hospital is facing a fine of up to €1.75m over its repeated failure to cut the length of time patients have to wait for treatment.

The unnamed facility is set to be hit with the fine under controversial plans introduced by the Department of Health’s special delivery unit (SDU).

Under the SDU initiative, revealed earlier this year, hospitals will be fined €25,000 for every month a patient is waiting more than 12 months for any planned inpatient procedure. The cut-off point will drop to nine months from September.