Hospital waiting lists '˜an Executive failure'

The number of people in Northern Ireland waiting for a first outpatient appointment has increased by almost 37 per cent over the last year, according to the latest figures.

During the month of December 2015 there were 236,365 people on waiting lists compared to 171,866 the previous year.

The number of people waiting more than 18 weeks for a first outpatient appointment has more than doubled.

Ulster Unionist spokesperson on health Jo-Anne Dobson said the fact that more than one in five of Northern Ireland’s population - almost 400,000 people - are now on a hospital waiting list for a diagnostic test, hospital appointment or treatment, is the “most acutely felt failure of the current Executive”.