There are now more than 500,000 people waiting for an out-patient appointment to see a hospital consultant, new figures show.
The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) on Friday published figures showing that overall the number of patients on hospital waiting lists is continuing to rise.
There were 81,468 people on waiting lists for hospital in-patient or day case procedures at the end of December, up from 80,595 at the end of November.
The number of patients waiting for an out-patient appointment in December was 500,800, up from 497,721 in November.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said the out-patient waiting list remained "a big challenge that needs to be addressed". He said the budget for the NTPF and to deal with waiting lists had dramatically increased .
He said he expected “ to see good progress in driving down waiting lists as we come into the spring”.
However, Fianna Fáil's health spokesman Billy Kelleher said it was "absolutely appalling" that more than half a million people were now waiting for an outpatient appointment.
He argued that Mr Harris had “clearly taken his eye off the ball as he attempts, and fails, to grapple with emergency department trolley crisis”
“A total of 138,584 of these patients spent all of 2017 waiting unsuccessfully for an outpatient consultation. And half of these have actually being waiting since the middle of 2016,” he said.
"We should remember too that Leo Varadkar promised that no-one would be waiting more than 18 months by the middle of 2015. Delivery on that commitment seems further away than ever."
Mr Harris said it was worth highlighting that the number of patients waiting more than 12 months was lower in December than at any point last year and there were marked decreases in those waiting for treatment for a number of specialities including cataracts; ear, nose and throat; urology and scopes.
“At present over 57 per cent of patients on the in-patient list wait less than six months, and over 84 per cent wait less than 12 months for their procedure. This is despite the additional demands on our hospitals,” he said.
“The out-patient waiting list remains a big challenge that needs to be addressed. It is worth noting that last year almost half a million (479,000) outpatients did not attend their appointment. This is something that must be tackled.”
Mr Kelleher said it was “ bitterly disappointing” that after four months of modest improvements, the numbers waiting on the inpatient day case list have edged upwards again.”
“Sadly the chaos we have seen in our emergency departments so far in 2018 means that we are likely to see a further increase in January,” he said. “It is critical that the Minister for Health publishes the bed capacity review as soon as possible and bring forward a costed plan for its swift implementation.”
