Fianna Fail has expressed alarm at the recent rise in hospital waiting list numbers.

irishhealth.com revealed yesterday that the number of patients waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment nearly doubled between December and January, and waiting lists for hospital procedures have also increased substantially.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Health Billy Kelleher has expressed his alarm at the jump in the number of people waiting for hospital care.

He pointed out that the latest HSE Performance Report shows that the number of patients waiting for over a year for an outpatient appointment almost doubled from 4,937 to 9,602 in the space of just one month. The numbers waiting for over two years jumped from 947 to 1,270 over the same period.

Deputy Kelleher said what was particularly worrying was the number of sick children waiting for more than a year for an outpatient appointment at either Crumlin or Temple Street Hospitals.

"At the end of January, there were 1,464 children waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment. That's up from 1,282 in December. In addition to this, there were 473 children on in-patient/day case waiting lists for more than five months at the end of January - up from 317 children in December."

"We have heard Minister Reilly promise several times that by the end of last year, no patient would be waiting for more than a year for an appointment. Clearly, the Minister's strategy is not working," Deputy Kelleher said.

Waiting lists on upward spiral again