'It is an outrage' - New figures show record number of people waiting for hospital appointments

There is outrage this evening after new figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show record highs for the number of people waiting for outpatient hospital appointments.

The numbers are up 53,000 since the start of the year and up more than 4,500 last month alone.

Fianna Fáil Health Spokesperson, Stephen Donnelly, said the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Health Simon Harris have repeatedly failed to halt the relentless upward surge in people looking for help.

Mr Donnelly said: "For every one person waiting more than a year-and-a-half, there are now seven people. What that means is that more than 100,000 men, women and children in Ireland are waiting.

"They are suffering, they are deteriorating and getting sicker in some cases, and in some cases they are dying just waiting to see a doctor. It is an outrage."