Over A Quarter Of A Million People Waiting For Hospital Scans

Over a quarter of a million people are waiting for health scans in Irish hospitals.

New figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) show that 59,000 have been on the lists for over a year.

The figures relate to outpatient scans like CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds.

At the end of the last year, there were 251,000 people on the waiting list – including 38,000 people who've been waiting over 18 months.

Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane speaking on the Plinth outside Leinster House in November 2021. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane told Today FM the figures are shocking.

“When you have tens of thousands of people waiting over 18 months for a scan on the public system that will obviously have an impact on the ability of healthcare professionals to provide safe levels of care to people,” he said.

“Because scans are really important and while some might be routine, scans – obviously - are what show up difficulties and challenges which can then lead to a diagnosis.”

Elderly patient in hospital. Image: Dmitriy Shironosov / Alamy Stock Photo

He said there is an “incredible” number of people on Ireland’s waiting lists.

“We know that separate from diagnostic waiting lists, we have just under 900,000 people on some form of hospital or acute hospital waiting list and separate to that we have over 230,000 on community waiting lists,” he said.

“To have just over a quarter of a million people waiting for a scan of some description – it is incredible we have the amount of people waiting for a scan that we do.”

In a statement, the HSE said the figures relate to the number of people waiting for new appointments or return scans.

It said not all patients listed are waiting for access to a diagnostic scan.

It said funds have been provided to address the waiting lists this year.