Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, has insisted that significant progress was made in the reduction of waiting lists at University Hospital Kerry in 2023.
He said those waiting the longest for care reduced by almost a half, while those waiting for a procedure fell by 30%.
Responding to concerns raised about delays in being seen at the facility, Minister Donnelly pointed to:
- A 47% reduction – or 650 patients – in those waiting over 12 months for an outpatient appointment.
- A 30% reduction – 100 patients – in those waiting for an inpatient day-case procedure.
- A 95% reduction – 40 patients – who were waiting over six months for an inpatient day-case procedure.
Minister Donnelly said: “Throughout 2023 we’ve been tackling waiting lists hospital by hospital and specialty by specialty. Thanks to the enormous efforts of our healthcare workers in University Hospital Kerry, we have fewer patients waiting now than we did a year ago”.
He said 2023 was the second year in a row that progress was achieved and he is determined that fewer patients again will be waiting in Kerry at the end of 2024.
Nationally, the core target of achieving a 10% reduction in the number of patients waiting longer than the agreed Sláintecare times of 10-12 weeks was exceeded in 2023, with an 11% reduction, equating to 57,000 patients.
2023 saw a reduction of almost one third (32%) on those waiting longer than 12 months. This equates to 54,000 patients. Since the Covid-19 peak, those waiting longer than 12 months has reduced by 60%.
Over 177,000 more patients were removed from acute hospital waiting lists last year compared with 2022. The target of removing approximately 1.66 million patients from waiting lists in 2023 was exceeded by five per cent with around 1.74 million patients removed.
The average outpatient waiting time reduced from 9.7 months to 7.5 months. This represents a 23% reduction in 2023.
Minister Donnelly added: “Significant progress was made during 2023 in reducing the length of time people were waiting for care”.
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