The number of public patients on hospital treatment waiting lists has increased for the third month in a row, latest figures show.

The number of patients waiting over nine months for operations and other treatments stood at 3,019 at the end of March, compared to 2,141 at the end of February. Of the 3,019 March figure, there are currently 506 patients waiting over a year for treatment.

Following an initiative by Health Minister James Reilly's Special Delivery Unit (SDU) the number of patients waiting over nine months for treatment dropped dramatically in 2012, from 4,239 in March to only 109 in December.

However, numbers on lists have been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year, according to figures from the Department of Health's National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

The total number of patients waiting for hospital treatment in all waiting time categories from 0-3 months to over 12 months, now stands at 55,917, the highest it has been since March 2012. At the end of December, the total number of patients on lists was 51,708.

The Department of Health and the HSE have set a target of having no patient waiting longer than nine months for hospital treatment by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, latest figures reveal that the HSE was already running up a €12 million deficit at the end of January, including a €10.9 million deficit in the hospital sector.