'Treat hospital crisis as urgently as snowy roads' as record 82,000 people on waiting lists

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association has warned the drop in waiting list numbers is 'nowhere near the planned 18% reduction'.

The crisis in hospital care should be treated with the same urgency as the snowy roads, a patient advocate has said as latest data shows a record number of patients facing lengthy delays for treatment.

The call comes as hospital consultants warn Government targets for reducing patient waiting lists by year’s end will be missed by a “significant margin”.