Consultants warn patients at risk of dying as 900,000 on hospital waiting lists

Professor Alan Irvine, President, Irish Hospital Consultants Association.

More than 907,000 people are currently on hospital waiting lists, as consultants warn that delays in care could put thousands of patients at risk of dying.

It previously emerged that 236,380 people were on separate waiting lists for scans and diagnostics up to earlier this year. This suggests that as many as 1.1m people are currently waiting for hospital treatment.

Figures provided by the National Treatment Purchase Fund show 907,331 people were stuck on waiting lists by the end of July, including 627,856 waiting for their first outpatient appointment.

This also includes 79,588 patients waiting for inpatient or day case treatment and 27,100 waiting to have a gastrointestinal scope.

Concern is now growing among hospital consultants over the impact of these delays for patients.

Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) president Alan Irvine said that patients are not getting the hospital treatment they need.

“Many thousands are being added to an ever-increasing waiting list for assessment and treatment, which is leading to poorer outcomes. This is unfortunate and unacceptable,” said Prof Irvine.

Earlier this week a report in the Belfast Telegraph on the North's health trusts indicated over 17,000 people had died while on a waiting list over a three-year period. This included 7,600 deaths last year.

“The shocking figures revealed this week in Northern Ireland, which has half the number of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment compared with the Republic, shows that in many cases, patients died while awaiting treatment,” said Prof Irvine.

The IHCA warned that “years of underinvestment and consultant staffing crisis are leaving potentially thousands at risk of dying on waiting lists” 

Analysis of the figures by the IHCA shows the hospital lists have risen by almost 75,000 (9%) since July 2020.

Behind every statistic is a person and a family seeking healthcare, often while experiencing pain, suffering, and the psychological distress at not knowing when they will be able to receive treatment. Sadly, this can also be a matter of life and death.” 

Prof Irvine urged the Government to fund and fill the 882 consultant roles which are vacant or filled by locum staff, as this is slowing down hospitals’ ability to tackle the growing lists.

Other problems includes shortages of hospital beds and surgical theatres, and limited access to scans including MRIs.

“While it may be difficult to establish how many deaths may be directly caused by delays in receiving care while on waiting lists, at a minimum this should be a wake-up call to Government to urgently address the twin deficits of a shortage of consultants and a lack of sufficient public hospital capacity to resolve the record waiting lists we continue to experience,” he said.

The IHCA said these waiting lists existed before the pandemic, but the delays caused over the last two and half years have exacerbated the problem for patients.

Meanwhile, 375 people were waiting on trolleys for a hospital bed on Friday, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.