Hospitals: thousands more patients waiting longer for a first consultant-led appointment in Northern Ireland

Shock new figures today (Thursday) show Northern Ireland's hospital outpatient waiting lists which are already among the worst in the UK are getting longer.

A total of more than 500,000 patients are now waiting to see a consultant for the very first time after being referred by a GP.

In the Northern, Southern and Western health trusts alone, almost 240,000 patients are waiting to see a consultant for the very first time.

And nearly 126,000 of them are waiting more than a year. The corresponding figure for September last year was 106,433.

Draft Department of Health targets for March 2025 say not one single patient should be waiting that long.

Meanwhile, provisional statistics for the Belfast and South-Eastern Trusts show a further 268,000 patients on the overall waiting list.

According to the Department, these figures are from Encompass and are considered to be ‘official statistics in development’.

"Therefore, caution must be exercised when using these figures," the Department said.

New statistics also highlight in-patient waiting times and day-case admissions and these show that fewer patients are on waiting lists compared to last year.