Some 20,990 people are waiting on outpatient appointments at Letterkenny University Hospital, new figures reveal.
The waiting list at the hospital has jumped by 43% since 2015.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) warns that 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.
In Letterkenny, the waiting list is comprised of 18,861 adults and 2,129 children awaiting first appointments at a consultant-led Outpatient clinic.
A “severe” shortage of consultants in our public hospitals is the main contributor to the problem, says IHCA President Professor Alan Irvine.
More than 152,000 people in the West and North-West regions are currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a consultant.
“We have a chronic recruitment and retention crisis with 1 in 5 permanent hospital consultant posts across the country and in the Saolta Group either vacant or filled on a temporary basis,” Prof Irvine said.
Some of the longest waiting lists across the West and North West region are for routine, planned care particularly in Orthopaedics, ENT (Otolaryngology), Urology, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Gynaecology and Dermatology. Patients are waiting to see a consultant and then receive treatment for procedures such as hip or knee replacements, tonsillectomies, prostate biopsies, and cataract surgery, while others face similar waits for critical gynaecological assessments and skin biopsy for possible cancers.
Of the 17,222 currently waiting for inpatient or day case treatment across the Saolta Group, 5,915 are waiting more than 12 months, a third of the total number.
The IHCA is calling for vacant permanent hospital consultant posts to be filled urgently, and for an expansion of the region’s hospital beds, operating theatres and other essential hospital facilities.
“The success of the ongoing consultant contract discussions will be critical to the survival of our public health service for years to come,” Prof Irvine said.
Prof Irvine said the backlog of care is “dangerously close to overwhelming our public hospitals”, as the number of people on waiting lists nationally exceeds 900,000.
“This is due not only to the pandemic or cyber-attack on the HSE, but the persistent underinvestment in hospital infrastructure over the past decade, including bed capacity and consultant staffing which are both 40% below the EU average.”
