Reilly slated for ‘chaos’ in services

Just 24 hours after he survived a no-confidence vote, Health Minister James Reilly was last night facing criticism for soaring outpatient waiting lists and mounting multimillion-euro hospital overspends.

According to the HSE’s latest performance report, the number of people waiting for an outpatient clinic appointment has reached 340,000 — almost double the figure released only last April. Dr Reilly admitted the figure may actually be as high as 360,000 when all hospitals are factored in.

Of the total identified so far, 113,000 have been waiting for more than a year, almost 78,000 of them in just eight hospitals.