The Latest figures for the number of people on hospitals waiting lists was recently published by the NTPF. Unfortunately, there are now over 755,200 people on hospital waiting lists which unfortunately shows a continuous upward trend for the year. Of those on the waiting lists, 523,225 are for outpatient appointments which is mainly made up of patients waiting to see a consultant specialist having been referred by their GP.

In terms of the specialities which sees the highest
waiting lists (for both outpatients and inpatients) they include ophthalmology (e.g. cataracts), orthopaedics (e.g. Hip and Knee replacements), ENT (ear, nose and throat) and Urology.