Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland patients still waiting over five years for hospital appointments, figures show

Symptoms can vary from person to person
Some patients in Northern Ireland are waiting over five years for their first consultant-led outpatient hospital appointment. (Alamy Stock Photo)
By Allan Preston

PATIENTS in Northern Ireland are still waiting over five years for hospital appointments, new figures have shown.

The latest quarterly figures from the Department of Health up to the end of 2023 detail the number of people waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, inpatient/day case treatment or a diagnostic test at hospitals in Northern Ireland.

In some cases, patients waiting were left waiting over five years for an inpatient/day case admission despite a target that no one should wait more than one year.

Others also waited nearly five years for their first outpatient appointment.

The South Eastern Trust was excluded from the results as the first trust to adopt the new Encompass IT system, a £300m programme to digitise paper records that will also be rolled out to the other trusts.

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Set out in detail against the waiting time targets, these are the results for the Belfast, Southern, Northern and Western health trusts.

Waiting times for a First Outpatient Appointment

By March, at least 50% of patients should not wait longer than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, with none waiting longer than 52 weeks.

  • The results show 341,910 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient hospital appointment on December 31, 2023.
  • This was 30,514 more patients (9.8%) than the same time in December 2022.
  • The average waiting time was 49.6 weeks, while at the upper end (95th percentile) some patients were waiting nearly five years (257.4 weeks).
  • 84.1% (287,475) patients were waiting over nine weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, nearly 30,000 more than the same time the previous December.
  • Nealy half (47.8%, 163,561) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment in December 2023, over 14,000 more than in December 2022.

Waiting Times for Inpatient and Day Case Admission

By March, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for inpatient or day case treatment, with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.

  • 97,794 patients were waiting in December 2023 – which represented an improvement of over 14,000 less than in December 2022.
  • The average waiting time was 58.4 weeks, with those in the 95th percentile waiting over five years (280.7 weeks).
  • Over 76,000 patients (77.9%) were waiting more than 13 weeks for admission in December 2023 – another improvement at around 12,000 less than in December 2022.
  • Over half of patients (52.4%, 51,251) were waiting more than 52 weeks for admission in December 2023 – around 9,500 less than the previous December.

Waiting Times for a Diagnostic Service

By March, three-quarters (75%) of patients should not wait longer than nine weeks for a diagnostic test, and no patients longer than 26 weeks.

  • 153,333 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test in December 2023, over 21,000 (16%) more than the same time the previous year.
  • Nearly 93,000 patients (60.5%) waited longer than nine weeks in December 2023, a jump of more than 20,000 since December 2022.
  • A third of patients (33.9%) waited longer than 26 weeks, over 14,000 more than in December 2022.

Diagnostic Reporting Turnaround Times

By March, all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within two days.

  • 377,250 diagnostic tests were carried out across the four trusts, with one-in-four (98,110, 26%) being urgent and the rest routine.
  • Of the urgent diagnostic tests, 78.3% (76,825) were reported on within two days.