Numbers on hospital waiting lists soar 968%

Government attempts to halt the slippage in patient waiting times have failed spectacularly, with latest figures showing a massive 968% increase in the numbers waiting more than nine months for hospital treatment.

A National Treatment Purchase Fund analysis shows the number of patients waiting more than nine months for inpatient or day case hospital treatment has soared from 510 in January to 5,448 in July.

This is despite former health minister James Reilly issuing a warning in February to HSE boss Tony O’Brien that no public patient in need of surgery should endure a delay of more than eight months from last June.