Outpatient waiting lists rise by over 20%
The number of people waiting for outpatient procedures at Cavan General Hospital has risen by more than a fifth since January, although waiting times have improved.
The latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show 7,245 people were waiting for such procedures at the local hospital in June. That’s up from 5,960 in January.
While waiting lists are growing, they are still well below the figure for June 2017 when 10,368 were awaiting procedures.
General medicine and orthopaedics have the largest number of people waiting at 1,527 and 1,522 respectively. General medicine has also seen the largest increase in the number of people waiting this year, up by 710 in the first six months of the year. The breakdown of data shows 977 waiting for gynaecology appointments, with 949 people waiting for ENT procedures. They’re up by 39 and 192 people respectively on the figure in January.
Nephrology, which deals with the kidneys, was the only area to see a drop, albeit a small one, in the number of people waiting for procedures in the first six months of the year. Twenty people were on that waiting list at the end of June, down three.
The number of people waiting more than a year and a half for an appointment, meanwhile, has more than halved so far this year.
Orthopaedics and respiratory medicine were the only categories with people waiting more than 18 months, with 52 and 78 people. The overall figure is down from 360 in January.
The number of people waiting more than a year for an appointment has risen though, from 376 in January to 512 in June.
Dermatology, general medicine, general surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, ENT, respiratory medicine, urology and small volume specialties all have people waiting more than 12 months.
The number of inpatient cases on the waiting list in Cavan General Hospital has fallen slightly over the same period. It fell by 70 people to a total of 436 at the end of June.
The majority of people, 297, are waiting for general surgery procedures. All are on the waiting list for a period of less than a year.
Gynaecology had a wait list of 57, all waiting less than six months. Twenty-one people were waiting for a respiratory procedure. Again, all those were waiting less than six months.
General medicine had a total of 27 people waiting, with two waiting up to a year for an appointment.
The total of all other specialties reached 34, with no one waiting more than six months for an appointment.
A breakdown of the waiting list data shows 22 children were waiting for inpatient or day case procedures in Cavan General Hospital at the end of June. Of those, 20 were waiting for general surgery appointments, with the remaining two requiring specialist procedures.