The number of adult patients waiting over nine months for hospital treatment waiting lists dropped from 4,232 to 3,295 between September and October, latest figures show.

The figures from the HSE also show that the number of adults waiting over 12 months for procedures dropped from 874 to 791 in the same period.

The numbers of adult long waiters nationally have now dropped for two months in succession.

There were 49,325 adults and children on treatment waiting lists at the end of October, compared to 49,496 the previous month.

The numbers waiting over nine months for treatment are still considerably higher than figures recorded a year ago, however.

The total number of patients awaiting outpatient appointments also dropped between September and October, the figures show.

A total of 378,840 were on outpatient lists at the end of October, compared to 386,384 in September.

The numbers waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment dropped from 84,423 to 71,441 between September and October.

The HSE has set targets of having no-one waiting over eight months for hospital treatment and having no-one waiting more than a year for outpatients by the end of 2013.

The health executive, at the launch of its 2014 service plan yesterday, said it hoped to be 95% compliant with the treatment list maximum wait target and 87% compliant with the outpatient list target at the end of the year.