Publication of the Quarterly Northern Ireland Waiting List Statistics - Position at 31 December 2015

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety today published the quarterly Northern Ireland Waiting List Statistics, relating to the position at the 31 December 2015.

The Waiting List Statistics Releases show detailed information on the number of people waiting for a first outpatient appointment, a diagnostic test or inpatient treatment at hospitals in Northern Ireland.

Key facts and figures for NI Waiting Times at end of December 2015

Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment

• the 2015/16 Ministerial target relating to outpatient waiting times states that from April 2015, at least 60% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, and no patient waiting longer than 18 weeks
• the total number of people waiting for a first outpatient appointment at the end of December 2015 was 236,365, representing an increase of 2.1% (4,740) compared to September 2015 (230,625) and a 36.9% (63,499) increase compared to December 2014 (171,866)
• of those patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment at the end of December 2015, 70.0% (164,638) were waiting more than nine weeks; this is compared with 67.0% waiting more than nine weeks at the end of September 2015 and 55.5% at the end of December 2014
• the number of people waiting more than 18 weeks for a first outpatient appointment at the end of December 2015 was 122,771, 52,.2% of the total number waiting. This is compared with 109,721 (47.6%) waiting more than 18 weeks at the end of September 2015, and 48,579 (28.3%) waiting more than 18 weeks at the end of December 2014

Waiting Times for a Diagnostic Service

• the 2015/16 Ministerial target for diagnostic waiting times states that, from April 2015, no patient should wait longer than nine weeks for a diagnostic test.
• at the end of December 2015, there were 94,043 patients waiting for a diagnostic service at HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland. This represents an increase of 3.8% (3,400) compared with the end of September 2015 and an increase of 15.7% (12,725) compared to the end of December 2014
• there were 33,555 (35.7%) patients waiting longer than 9 weeks at the end of December 2015, an increase of 6.2% compared to the previous quarter (31,607) and 30.1% more than the number waiting at the end of December 2014 (25,787)

Diagnostic Reporting Turnaround Times

• the Ministerial target for diagnostic reporting times states that, from April 2015, all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within two days of the test being undertaken
• there were 142,266 completed diagnostic reports verified and dispatched to the referring clinician in Northern Ireland during the quarter ending December 2015, an increase of 4.6% (6,305) on the 135,961 reported in the previous quarter
• during the quarter ending December 2015, 87.9% of urgent diagnostic tests in Northern Ireland were reported, verified and dispatched within two days. The South Eastern HSC Trust reported the highest proportion of urgent tests within two days (96.0%), with the other Trusts reporting between 76.9% and 93.2% of urgent tests within 2 days

Waiting Times for Inpatient Admission

• the Ministerial target, for inpatient waiting times, states that from April 2015, at least 65% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for inpatient or day case treatment, and no patient should wait longer than 26 weeks
• the total number of patients waiting for inpatient treatment at the end of December 2015 was 67,026, 6.9% (4,329) more than at the end of September 2015 (62,697), and 23.6% (12,817) more than at the end of December 2014 (54,209)
• of those waiting for inpatient treatment at the end of December 2015, 52.4% (35,113) were waiting more than 13 weeks. This is compared with 52.6% (32,981) waiting more than 13 weeks at the end of September 2015, and 43.2% (23,393) waiting more than 13 weeks at the end of December 2014
• there were 21,413 patients waiting longer than 26 weeks for inpatient admission at the end of December 2015. This is an increase of 18.1% (3,276) compared with the previous quarter and 11,647 more than the number waiting at the end of December 2014 (9,766)

Notes to editors: 

1. All publications are available online 

2. About the data

• the sources for the data contained in this release are the Departmental Information Returns CH3, QOAR, SDR1, DRTT, IS1, the DHSSPS Inpatient and ICATS Waiting Times Datasets and the Hospital Inpatient System Dataset. These returns collect information from HSC Trusts and the Health and Social Care Board on a quarterly basis
• figures will also include privately funded patients waiting for treatment in Health Service hospitals and those patients who are resident outside Northern Ireland
• data incorporate all returns and amendments received from HSC Trusts up to 4th February 2016

3. Outpatient definitions

• an outpatient appointment is an appointment to enable a patient to see a consultant, a member of their team or a locum for such a member, in respect of one referral
• the waiting list figures include all outpatients who have not had their first appointments by the end of the quarter including those who have cancelled or missed a previous appointment
• the outpatient waiting list figures presented do not include maternity specialties 501 (Obstetrics), 510 (Obstetrics (Ante Natal)) and 520 (Obstetrics (Post Natal))

4. Diagnostic Service definitions

• a diagnostic service provides an examination, test or procedure used to identify a person’s disease or condition and which allows a medical diagnosis to be made.
• the diagnostic waiting list figures presented include people waiting for a test with a diagnostic element including tests that are part diagnostic and subsequently part therapeutic.

They do not include:

• patients currently admitted to a hospital bed and waiting for an emergency procedure
• purely therapeutic procedures. A therapeutic procedure is defined as a procedure which involves actual treatment of a person’s disease, condition or injury
• patients undergoing a planned programme of tests
• patients waiting for procedures as part of a screening programme

5. Diagnostic Reporting Times definitions

• the diagnostic reporting turnaround time is the length of time between the diagnostic test being undertaken and the results being verified and dispatched to the referring clinician
• diagnostic reporting times apply to a selected subset of diagnostic services. These services are: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Computerised Tomography; Non-Obstetric Ultrasound; Barium Studies; DEXA Scan; Radio-Nuclide Imaging; Pure Tone Audiometry; Echocardiography; Perfusion Studies; Peripheral Neurophysiology; Sleep Studies; and Urodynamics Pressures and Flows

6. Inpatient definitions

• ordinary admissions include both (a) patients admitted electively with the expectation that they will remain in hospital for at least one night, and (b) non-elective admissions (e.g. emergency admissions). A patient who is admitted with either of the above intentions, but who leaves hospital for any reason without staying overnight, is still counted as an ordinary admission. The figures in this statistics release only include non-emergency admissions
• day Cases are patients admitted electively during the course of a day with the intention of receiving care who do not require the use of a hospital bed overnight and who return home as scheduled. If this original intention is not fulfilled and the patient stays overnight, such a patient is counted as an ordinary admission
• the waiting list inpatient figures presented include people waiting to be admitted as inpatients either as day cases or ordinary admissions

They do not include:

• patients admitted as emergency cases
• outpatients
• patients undergoing a planned programme of treatment e.g. a series of admissions for chemotherapy
• maternity (specialties 510 and 520)
• patients currently receiving inpatient treatment in hospitals but who are included on other waiting lists
• patients who are temporarily suspended from waiting lists

7. This information was collated by Hospital Information Branch, DHSSPS.

Further information is available from:
Hospital Information Branch,
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety,
Annexe 2, Castle Buildings,
Stormont, BT4 3SQ

Telephone: 028 90 523264
E-mail: Statistics@dhsspsni.gov.uk

8. Media queries to DHSSPS Press Office on 02890 520074, or out of hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned. Follow us on Twitter @healthserviceni

Share this page