Hospital long waits double since start of pandemic and are 250 times higher than before

• 20,813 patients waiting over a year for hospital inpatient/day case care, an increase of 11,103 or 114% in the past year;
• 100-fold increase in the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for essential hospital treatment compared with 2014; 
• 250-fold increase in the number of patients waiting over 15 months for inpatient/day case treatment since 2014; massive jump from just 56 patients in January 2014 to 14,334 in January 2021; 
• 261,956 more people are waiting over a year for a consultant outpatient appointment compared with 2014 – a 28-fold increase.

IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: "Yet again, these waiting time figures drive home the devastating impact not just of COVID-19 on the provision of care to patients, but of the persistent underinvestment in hospital infrastructure, bed capacity and other facilities in the past decade and the failure to address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis.”

The number of patients waiting over a year or longer for hospital treatment is now double the figure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and 250 times higher than in 2014, new figures show.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has today (Friday 12 February 2021) urged the Government to urgently put in place the capacity and resources over the coming months to catch up on the essential hospital care that is being postponed or delayed due to the pandemic.

The IHCA’s comments come after the latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) show record increases in the number of patients waiting over a year or longer for hospital care:

• A record 20,813 patients are waiting over a year for hospital inpatient/day case care, an increase of 11,103 or 114% in the past year;
• This compares with just 183 patients waiting longer than 12 months for essential hospital treatment in 2014 – a 113-fold increase in seven years; 
• There has been a staggering 255-fold rise in the number of patients waiting over 15 months for inpatient/day case treatment since 2014 – an increase from 56 patients in January 2014 to 14,334 in January 2021; 
• 98,304 more people are waiting longer than a year for an outpatient appointment, 56% more than this time last year;  
• 261,956 more people are waiting over a year for a consultant outpatient appointment compared with 2014 – a 28-fold increase;
• 862,720 people are now on some form of NTPF waiting list, an increase of 86,221 (11%) since January 2020.

Commenting on today’s waiting lists, IHCA President Professor Alan Irvine, said:

"Yet again, these waiting time figures drive home the devastating impact not just of COVID-19 on the provision of care to patients, but of the persistent underinvestment in hospital infrastructure, bed capacity and other facilities in the past decade and the failure to address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis. 

“Regrettably, in the short-term due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis these waiting lists will deteriorate further. The impact of the current surge and the unavoidable delays in providing hospital care will be particularly felt in the second half of the year, but also for years to come unless plans are put in place now to clear the backlogs. 

“Planning is now required to ensure that services are resourced appropriately to cater for the increased demand. But with over 700 permanent Consultant posts vacant our acute hospitals are very poorly positioned to provide timely care to patients.

“While government has committed record funding levels for health in 2021, until this money is channelled effectively and speedily to where it will make the most difference for patients – through the recruitment of additional Consultants with supporting teams and infrastructure – our public hospitals will continue to have record waiting lists and struggle to address the backlog of treatment due to COVID.

“Nearly 70% of members who responded to a recent IHCA survey confirmed that the low number of consultants available to deliver care will have a moderate or severe adverse impact on their capacity to deal with the backlog in non-COVID care. 

“Government can no longer ignore the fundamental requirement that essential treatment is delivered by consultants and that no amount of investment in hospital services will reduce waiting lists unless we recruit and retain the necessary number of hospital consultants to deliver timely care. 

“The continued failure of the Government since 2012 to address the hospital consultant recruitment and retention crisis and other capacity deficits is the root causes of the record 862,000 people now on some form of NTPF waiting list. If we remedy the 2012 consultant pay disparity issue, we can fill the over 700 vacant permanent Consultant posts and start to bring waiting lists down.”

ENDS

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