Monthly waiting list figures - February 2024

New hospital waiting list figures published today by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) demonstrate sustained improvement over the past year, through the multi-annual action plan approach, in addressing increasing waiting lists and long wait times.

In the last year, since February 2023, the total waiting list has decreased by c.2.2% (15.5k). As of the end of February, there were c.689.5k patients on the active hospital waiting lists. Removals are c.10k (c.5.4%) higher than the same period last year, while additions are c.12.7k (c.6.6%) higher.

Since February 2023, the outpatient (OPD) waiting list has decreased by c.17.5k (c.2.9%), the inpatient / day case (IPDC) waiting list has increased by c.2.9k (c.3.5%) and the year-on-year comparison at the end of February 2024 highlights that the GI Scopes waiting list decreased by c.0.9k (c.3.6%) compared to this time last year and the year to date growth in the waiting list is lower than 2023 trends.

Since the pandemic peaks, there has been a c.24% reduction in the number of people waiting longer than the Sláintecare targets, which equates to approximately 148,000 people. The total waiting list exceeding the 10- and 12- week Sláintecare targets at the end of February 2024 was 478,898 which is a 1.3% (6,270) increase compared to the end of January. The total number of patients waiting within the Sláintecare targets at the end of February 2024 was 210,637.

The upward trajectory for acute hospital waiting lists is an anticipated multi-annual trend at this juncture. The early months of the year are traditionally when limited elective care is delivered due to the winter surge in demand for unscheduled care and because of high levels of respiratory illness circulating. The HSE is attributing the increases in waiting list additions to both demographic (for example: population growth, immigration, aging population) and non-demographic challenges (for example: increased awareness of services, new service developments, chronic disease and pent-up demand post COVID pandemic). A multi-agency group (HSE, NTPF and the Dept. of Health) is conducting further analysis on demand capacity and referral patterns to derive more detailed insights into this trend and whether it is likely to continue throughout 2024.

The latest hospital activity report published monthly by the HSE is now available online. This gives regular insight into acute activity levels, with millions of patients being seen and treated annually within our hospital system alone. For the most recently available 12 months of data, there were c.3.6 million outpatient and c.1.8 million inpatient / day case attendances. In addition to this planned (‘scheduled’) care, our hospital system also treated c.1.7 million patients during this same period in emergency (‘unscheduled’) care, which represents a c.11% increase on 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels and reflects the ongoing pressure on hospitals and increased Emergency Department (ED) attendances, particularly amongst older people.

Despite the significant challenges from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency department pressures and other operational factors, including recruitment, our hospitals have delivered improvements which are making a real difference to patients. Many individual hospitals have delivered impressive reductions in both their waiting lists and waiting times. The HSE is currently working to replicate this positive performance across the entire hospital system.

For example, over the past year, Cork University Hospital has reduced the number of patients waiting over 15 months for OPD appointments by 33% from 10,604 to 7,113. Additionally, Letterkenny University Hospital has reduced the number of patients waiting over 9 months for an IPDC procedure by 56% from 723 to 315 and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital has reduced the number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for colonoscopy or OesophagoGastroDuodenoscopy (OGD) procedures by 64% from 666 to 238.

For 2024, further investment has been secured to tackle waiting lists and continue the multi-annual approach to reduce and reform acute hospital waiting lists. The 2024 WLAP is currently being finalised following intense collaboration between the Dept of Health, the HSE and the NTPF over recent months. Separately, further targeted measures will help to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists.