The Department of Health said the June hospital waiting list figures published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) underlined the progress achieved through the multi-annual action plan approach to addressing long wait times for care.
It said the latest hospital activity report published by the HSE, demonstrated increased levels of hospital activity in the delivery of scheduled and unscheduled care services.
“The figures demonstrate continued progress, including in terms of those patients waiting longest. There has been a c. 4% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 12 months since this time last year, and a corresponding reduction of c. 11% in the number waiting over 18 months.
“The health service has seen significant longer-term improvements in waiting times since the multi-annual Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) approach was initiated in September 2021. The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill published the Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) 2025 in February. The WLAP 2025 embodies the Government’s commitment to reducing waiting times for patients, thereby, improving access to hospital care.
“The increase in waiting list volumes in the year to date is an anticipated multi-annual trend impacted by the winter surge in demand for unscheduled care, but positive signs are evident in the time that patients have been waiting, which although they have increased since the beginning of the year are showing continued improvement month on month as well as in comparison with the same period last year. A portion of the increase in waiting list volumes since May relates to resolution of a reporting issue which resulted in c. 7k patients being added to the OPD waiting list.
“Ireland’s acute hospitals are delivering higher levels of activity and treating many more patients than ever before. The latest hospital rolling 12-month activity report published by the HSE gives insight into acute activity levels, with millions of patients being seen and treated annually within our hospital service. The report outlines that there was c. 4 million OPD, and c. 1.93 million IPDC attendances from April 2024 to March 2025. In comparison with the levels of activity delivered in the full year 2023, these figures represent increases of c. 9% for OPD and c.5% for IPDC activity.”
The Department said that in addition to this planned care, hospitals also treated c. 1.85 million patients during this same period in emergency care, which represented a c. 10% increase on the full year 2023 and reflected the continuing demands on our hospitals. “Increased Emergency Department attendances and demand in unscheduled care can result in some cancellations of elective procedures, and the impact this will have on patients is recognised.
“While the health service does not wish to see a growth in numbers waiting for care, growth in the number of referrals to our hospital services has a positive aspect as it is indicative of people accessing the services that they need, an increased awareness of services and reflects an expansion of services.
“For 2025, further investment has been secured to continue the multi-annual approach to reduce and reform acute hospital waiting lists. The governance and implementation of WLAP 2025 is continuously monitored by the Waiting List Task Force. With the 2025 WLAP, the Department of Health, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in evolving the multi-annual approach towards achieving this government’s vision of a public healthcare service where everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care services, where and when they require them.
