Waiting lists soar in Cork hospitals as staffing crisis continues to hit patients in the region

• 131,000 people waiting to see a Consultant in the South/South-West Hospital Group in May - an increase of 37% or 35,000 additional people in six years;
• 69,000 people are on outpatient waiting lists in Cork hospitals, a fifth more (+11,000) than in 2015;
• Inpatient and day-case numbers waiting have increased by 17% in SSWHG and by 42% in Cork Hospitals since 2015; 
• 30-fold increase in number of patients waiting longer than a year for treatment in past 9 years; 
• Severe shortage of hospital consultants in Cork and SSWHG is main contributor to the unacceptable delays and growing waiting lists; around 1 in 5 permanent consultant posts in the SSWHG region are unfilled;
• Recruitment crisis exacerbated by current proposals for a new consultant contract.

IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of hospital consultants in our public health service in Cork and the southern region is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients. These growing waiting lists are not simply a result of Covid-19 but demonstrate the impact of years of consultant shortages and underinvestment in capacity across public hospitals in the region.” 
 

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has today (Thursday 22 July 2021) warned that the ongoing shortage of hospital consultants across a large number of specialties in the South/South West Hospital Group is restricting patients from accessing timely, high-quality medical and surgical care and is contributing massively to growing waiting list.
 
Hospitals in the South of the country have seen their outpatient waiting lists increase by more than 11% in the past year, with more than 13,500 additional people in the South/South West Hospital Group (SSWHG)* now waiting to see a hospital consultant.
 
There were over 131,000 people on public hospital outpatient waiting lists in the SSWHG in May 2021, the latest available figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund reveal**. However, consultants fear this figure could in fact be higher as the NTPF has been unable to release new figures for the end of June due to the HSE cyber-attack that took place on 14 May. 
 
The most recent data shows that the waiting list for an appointment to see a hospital consultant in the SSWHG has increased by 35,000 (37%) in six years. 
 
Of the current total, over 69,000 are on waiting lists in Cork hospitals, which have seen their outpatient waiting lists increase by 11,000 (19%) since May 2015.
 
Inpatient and day-case numbers waiting have increase by 17% in SSWHG and by 42% in Cork Hospitals since 2015. Of the 11,190 currently awaiting hospital treatment in the SSWHG, more than half (6,293) are on Cork hospital waiting lists.  
 
The number of patients waiting longer than a year for treatment in the Group has increased to more than 2,900 compared with 982 six years ago and just 95 in 2012 - a 30-fold increase in almost 9 years. Cork hospitals now have over 1,250 patients waiting longer than a year for treatment, almost a 4-fold increase in 6 years.
 
These waiting lists are likely to worsen in the coming months as more people who have put off seeking care during the pandemic enter the system, and as a result of the ongoing impact of the cyber-attack on the HSE.
 
Commenting on the waiting lists, IHCA President Professor Alan Irvine, said:
 
“The severe shortage of hospital consultants in our public health service in Cork and the southern region is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients. These growing waiting lists are not simply a result of Covid-19 but demonstrate the impact of years of consultant shortages and underinvestment in capacity across public hospitals in the region.  
 
“We have a chronic recruitment and retention crisis with 1 in 5 permanent hospital consultant posts not filled. These posts in the SSWHG region are either vacant or filled on a temporary basis. 
 
“Reducing the record 885,000 people on some form of waiting list to be treated or seen by a consultant will only be possible by filling the 1 in 5 permanent hospital consultant posts that are currently unfilled and appointing significant additional consultants. Unfortunately, the current recruitment and retention crisis is being exacerbated further by the health services’ current approach to impose a new consultant contract without full negotiations with the IHCA.
 
“Last October, the Minister for Health gave his ‘unambiguous commitment’ to address the root causes of Ireland’s chronic consultant recruitment and retention crisis, including the restoration of full pay parity. Failure to uphold that commitment and to engage in meaningful negotiations with hospital consultant representative organisations have contributed to the addition of 40,000 people to hospital waiting lists across the country in the period since.”
 
ENDS
 
Notes:
*The South / South West Hospital Group includes: Cork University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Waterford, University Hospital Kerry, Mercy University Hospital, South Tipperary General Hospital, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Bantry General Hospital, Mallow General Hospital, Lourdes Orthopaedic Hospital Kilcreene
 
**https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm 
 
Media Contacts: 
Kelan Murphy │kelan@weare360.ie │ 087 923 4146
Lauren Murphy │ lauren@weare360.ie │ 083 801 5917