A previously unpublished Department of Health report has found that Ireland has the longest outpatient waiting times among analyzed countries, despite improvements in managing pandemic backlogs.
The internal report, completed in November 2024 and obtained through Freedom of Information, compared Ireland’s healthcare performance with countries including Norway, Spain, Canada, Poland, England, Wales, Scotland, and Finland. The findings show Ireland significantly trails international peers in providing timely outpatient care.
For every 1,000 people in Ireland, 112 are on outpatient waiting lists, with 40% waiting more than six months for appointments. The average wait time stands at under seven months, though this represents an improvement from pre-pandemic levels when 53% waited over six months.
Specific procedures reveal particularly concerning delays. Irish patients wait an average of 167 days for cataract surgery, while hysterectomy patients face 267-day waits – nearly 100 days longer than Portugal, which has the second-longest delays for this procedure.
Ireland and Wales showed the highest percentages of patients waiting over a year for outpatient appointments among assessed countries.
Sinn Féin Health Spokesperson David Cullinane condemned the findings, stating patients wait “far too long” and criticizing the lack of progress toward Sláintecare’s 12-week maximum wait target. He attributed delays to bed shortages, staffing issues, and persistent emergency department overcrowding that forces elective surgery cancellations.
The Department of Health acknowledged that “many patients are still waiting too long” while highlighting Ireland’s improvement between 2022 and 2024 under the government’s Waiting List Action Plan.