The number of people waiting to see a consultant in the region’s main hospital dropped by nearly 10 percent last month.
More than 50,000 people were waiting for an inpatient or outpatient appointment in one of the UL Hospitals Group’s facilities at the end of April.
Figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show over 41,000 people were waiting for outpatient services at University Hospital Limerick last month – while signficantly up since the beginning of the pandemic last year, it’s a 9 per cent reduction on March’s figure.
The UL Hospitals Group had committed to clearing a portion of its waiting lists in a meeting with Clare local representatives last month – and it appears the gradual restoration of services from lockdown has helped in this regard.
The Group also says it’s been using virtual clinics across its services, has secured the appointment of new consultants and continues to attempt to minimise the inconvenience the pandemic has caused to patients.
Of the more than 50,000 people throughout the Midwest waiting for an outpatient appointment, more than 19,000 of them have been waiting for more than a year and a half.
More than 14,000 have been waiting less than six months – suggesting level five restrictions have severely hampered efforts to clear backlogs in 2020 and so far in 2021.
6,465 people are waiting for inpatient services in the region – though that’s also a seven percent drop on the end of March.
These figures are almost certainly going to be impacted this month by the ongoing cancellation of services as a result of the HSE cyber attack, with the UL Hospitals Group continuing to remind patients this week that all outpatient services are cancelled, as well as elective inpatient procedures.
