The Department of Health today published the quarterly Northern Ireland Inpatient, Day Case, Diagnostic and Outpatient Waiting Times Statistics, relating to the position at 30 June 2022.

The Waiting Times Statistics releases show detailed information on the number of people waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, a diagnostic test and inpatient or day case treatment at hospitals in Northern Ireland.

Key facts and figures for NI Waiting Times at end of June 2022

Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment

• The 2022/23 Ministerial target relating to outpatient waiting times states that by March 2023, at least 50% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.
• A total of 363,052 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, 1.2% (4,245) more than at 31st March 2022 (358,807) and 4.1% (14,185) more than at 30 June 2021 (348,867).
• In addition to the 363,052 patients waiting for an appointment at HSC Trusts, 14,705 patients were waiting for their first consultant-led outpatient appointment at a Day Case Procedure Centre (DPC) for cataract treatment.
• Over four fifths (81.4%, 295,346) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at 30^th June 2022, compared with 82.4% (295,501) at 31 March 2022 and 82.0% (285,937) at 30^th June 2021.
• Over half (51.6%, 187,257) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, compared with 52.0% (186,645) at 31 March 2021, and 53.0% (184,873) at 30 June 2021.
• During the quarter ending June 2022, there were 94,079 attendances for a first outpatient appointment, an increase of 4.0% (3,613) on the number seen during the quarter ending March 2022 (90,466) and 13.2% (10,975) more than during the quarter ending June 2021 (83,104).

Waiting Times for Inpatient and Day Case Admission

• The 2022/23 Ministerial target, for inpatient and day case waiting times, states that by March 2023, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for inpatient or day case treatment, with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.
• A total of 124,917 patients were waiting to be admitted to hospitals in Northern Ireland, 1.7% (2,097) more than at 31 March 2022 (122,820), and 10.6% (12,002) more than at 30 June 2021 (112,915).
• An additional 2,624 patients were waiting for treatment at a Day Case Procedure Centre (DPC); 1,742 patients were waiting to be admitted to a Cataracts DPC, with a further 882 patients waiting to be admitted to a Varicose Veins DPC.
• Over four-fifths (80.5%, 100,619) of patients were waiting more than 13 weeks to be admitted for treatment, a lower proportion than that at 31 March 2022 (81.5%, 100,041) and at 30 June 2021 (81.1%, 91,608).
• Almost three fifths (56.4%, 70,486) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for either an inpatient or day case admission, compared with 56.9% (69,831) at 31 March 2022, and 58.7% (66,287) at 30 June 2021.
• During the quarter ending June 2022, 36,454 patients received inpatient and day case treatment, 3.9% (1,362) more than during the quarter ending March 2022 (35,092) and 6.7% (2,290) more than during the quarter ending June 2021 (34,164).

Waiting Times for a Diagnostic Service

• The 2022/23 Ministerial target for diagnostic waiting times states that, by March 2023, 75% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a diagnostic test, with no patient waiting longer than 26 weeks.
• A total of 166,410 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test, 6.5% (10,140) more than at 31 March 2022 (156,270), and 14.5% (21,109) more than at 30 June 2021 (145,301).
• More than half (52.6%, 87,480) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a diagnostic test, compared with 50.7% (79,297) at 31 March 2022 and 52.4% (76,184) at 30 June 2021.
• More than a quarter (27.1%, 45,082) of patients were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test compared with 29.6% (46,312) at 31 March 2022 and 33.4% (48,543) at 30 June 2021.

Diagnostic Reporting Turnaround Times

• The draft 2022/23 Ministerial target for diagnostic reporting times states that, by March 2023, all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within two days of the test being undertaken.
• A total of 438,955 diagnostic tests were reported on and dispatched to the referring clinician at hospitals in Northern Ireland during the quarter ending June 2022, an increase of 5.6% (23,414) from the quarter ending March 2022 (415,541), and 2.4% (10,469) more than the quarter ending June 2021 (428,486).
• Of the 91,097 urgent diagnostic tests reported on during quarter ending June 2022, 78.3% (71,323) were reported on within 2 days.
• The Western HSC Trust reported the highest proportion of urgent tests within two days (89.0%), with the other HSC Trusts reporting between 69.4% (Belfast) and 81.9% (Southern) of urgent tests within 2 days.