Ireland's outpatient waiting list reached 692,524 people on 24 September 2026, according to National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) data, up 66,003 or 10.5% on a year earlier. The number waiting 18 months or more across the three main hospital lists rose 18.4% to 64,077, and the GI endoscopy list grew 28.1%.
The figures come from the NTPF's monthly waiting list files for public hospitals, published as open data and collected in Priya Life Science's Airmid Éireann open data project. This report compares the 24 September 2026 snapshot with 27 August 2026 and with 25 September 2025.
- Outpatients: 692,524 waiting for a first appointment, up 10.5% in a year and up 0.7% on August.
- Inpatient and day case: 114,722 waiting, up 14.7% in a year and down 0.2% on August.
- GI endoscopy: 43,288 waiting, up 28.1% in a year.
- Long waits: 64,077 people waiting 18 months or more across the three lists, up 18.4%.
- All three lists: 850,534 entries, up 90,182 or 11.9% in a year.
- Trend: the outpatient list has risen every month since December 2025.
The three lists in September 2026
Each NTPF list counts the people waiting at each public hospital, grouped by how long they have waited. The table shows the national totals for the three lists.
| List | 24 Sep 2026 | 27 Aug 2026 | 25 Sep 2025 | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outpatient | 692,524 | 687,839 | 626,521 | +66,003 (+10.5%) |
| Inpatient and day case | 114,722 | 114,921 | 100,045 | +14,677 (+14.7%) |
| GI endoscopy | 43,288 | 42,725 | 33,786 | +9,502 (+28.1%) |
| All three lists | 850,534 | 845,485 | 760,352 | +90,182 (+11.9%) |
Source: NTPF national waiting list data (by hospital), snapshots of 24 September 2026, 27 August 2026 and 25 September 2025. Totals by hospital and by specialty differ by one or two people in the published files; hospital totals are used here.
A person waiting on more than one list is counted on each, so the combined figure counts list entries rather than individual people.
Long waits are growing fastest
Waits of over a year grew faster than the lists as a whole. On the outpatient list, 53,458 people had waited 18 months or more, up 17.4% in a year, and a further 71,251 had waited 12 to 18 months, up 15.7%. Together, 149,573 entries across the three lists had waited more than 12 months.
On the inpatient and day case list, the 6 to 12 month group grew most, by 27.4% to 26,364. The 18 month and over group rose 16.0% to 9,810.
GI endoscopy shows the sharpest change in long waits, from a small base. The number waiting 12 to 18 months rose from 511 to 3,373, and those waiting 18 months or more from 121 to 809. Most of the list, 70.3%, is still waiting under six months.
Outpatient list: nine monthly rises in a row
The outpatient list fell to 611,987 in December 2025, then rose in every monthly snapshot to September 2026.
| Snapshot | Outpatients waiting |
|---|---|
| 25 Sep 2025 | 626,521 |
| 18 Dec 2025 | 611,987 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | 650,632 |
| 25 Jun 2026 | 673,754 |
| 27 Aug 2026 | 687,839 |
| 24 Sep 2026 | 692,524 |
Source: NTPF outpatient waiting list by hospital, monthly snapshots.
Which specialties have the longest lists
Orthopaedics has the largest outpatient list, with 85,258 people waiting, up 12,447 or 17.1% in a year. Dermatology is second with 62,846, down 1.6%, followed by cardiology (46,535, up 13.2%), ENT (46,274, up 5.8%) and ophthalmology (45,902, up 12.1%).
Among specialties with at least 2,000 people waiting, the largest outpatient increases after orthopaedics were gynaecology (up 6,890 to 41,899) and cardiology (up 5,442). Neurology grew 22.8% to 27,887.
On the inpatient and day case list, general surgery has the most people waiting (17,578, up 19.0%), followed by ophthalmology (15,094) and orthopaedics (15,063, up 20.9%). The inpatient and day case cardiology list rose 47.3%, from 4,120 to 6,070.
Children and adults
Children account for 72,671 of the outpatient list, or 10.5%, and 7,010 of the inpatient and day case list. The GI endoscopy list is almost all adults, with 413 children.
Hospitals with the largest outpatient lists
Beaumont Hospital has the largest outpatient list, with 56,012 people waiting, followed by Galway University Hospitals (53,045), University Hospital Waterford (50,700), the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (43,910) and University Hospital Limerick (36,149). Hospital list sizes partly reflect how many specialties and patients each hospital serves.
About the data
The NTPF publishes waiting list files every month for public hospitals, by hospital, specialty and time waited. This report covers the three lists the NTPF publishes in these files: outpatient, inpatient and day case, and GI endoscopy. Other published totals may count lists differently. The figures describe the lists; they do not show why the lists changed.
The data can be downloaded, with its source and collection date, from the Airmid Éireann open data release (dataset ntpf_waiting_lists). Waiting lists are also one of the indicators in our new monthly trend report on Irish health and pharma data.
For related coverage, see our report on the Budget 2027 health allocation and on the new National Maternity Hospital.
Sources
- National Treatment Purchase Fund, national waiting list data (outpatient, inpatient and day case, GI endoscopy), snapshots of 25 September 2025 to 24 September 2026, re-used under the NTPF's re-use of public sector information terms
- Airmid Éireann, open data release 1.3.0, dataset ntpf_waiting_lists (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23499798)
Cover image: AI-generated illustration of a hospital outpatient waiting area. It does not show any real hospital, person or organisation.
