Publication of the Quarterly Northern Ireland Outpatient, Inpatient and Day Case, and Diagnostic Waiting Times Statistics - position on 30 September 2024
Date published:
The Department of Health today published the quarterly Northern Ireland Outpatient, Inpatient and Day Case, and Diagnostic Waiting Times Statistics, relating to the position on 30 September 2024.
The waiting times statistical bulletins provide detailed information on the number of people waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment, inpatient/ day case treatment, or a diagnostic test at hospitals in Northern Ireland.
On 9 November 2023 the South Eastern Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust launched ‘encompass’ - a new electronic patient record system. The system also went live in Belfast HSC Trust on 6 June 2024 and in Northern HSC Trust on 7 November 2024, and its rollout across the other Trusts will continue in 2025.
Consequently, as South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts continue to transition to completely digitised health records at the time of publication, the data which it has been possible to include for them are presented separately. These figures, sourced from encompass, are considered to be ‘official statistics in development’, which are a subset of Official Statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. While caution must be exercised when using these figures, they are a meaningful representation of what they measure and are of sufficient quality for publication and use.
Charts and figures presented throughout these statistical bulletins will not usually include the South Eastern or Belfast HSC Trusts. This is to allow comparisons to be made for the three remaining HSC Trusts over previous years. As such, any Northern Ireland level figures presented only include data for the Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts.
Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment
- The figures provided separately for South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts are from encompass and are considered to be ‘official statistics in development’. Therefore, caution must be exercised when using these figures.
Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts
- The draft 2024/25 target for outpatient waiting times states that by March 2025, 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.
- 238,929 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at hospitals in the Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 30 September 2024, 3.6% (8,399) more than on 30 June 2024 (230,530), and 8.7% (19,175) more than on 30 September 2023 (219,754).
- The median waiting time was 59.4 weeks and the 95th percentile waiting time was 272.9 weeks.
- 85.9% (205,125) of patients were waiting more than nine weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 30 September 2024, compared with 84.2% (194,207) on 30 June 2024 and 84% (184,625) on 30 September 2023.
- 52.6% (125,768) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 30 September 2024, compared with 50.8% (117,027) on 30 June 2024 and 48.4% (106,433) on 30 September 2023.
South Eastern HSC Trust
- 115,596 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at hospitals in the South Eastern HSC Trust on 30 September 2024.
- The median waiting time was 69.7 weeks and the 95th percentile waiting time was 311.9 weeks.
- 88.5% (102,330) of patients were waiting more than nine weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 30 September 2024.
- 58.0% (67,008) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 30 September 2024.
Belfast HSC Trust
- 152,087 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at hospitals in the Belfast HSC Trust on 30 September 2024.
Waiting Times for Inpatient and Day Case Admission
- The figures provided separately for South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts are from encompass and are considered to be ‘official statistics in development’. Therefore, caution must be exercised when using these figures.
- The draft 2024/25 target for inpatient and day case waiting times states that by March 2025, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for inpatient/ day case treatment; with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.
Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts
- 49,311 patients were waiting for inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in the Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 30 September 2024, 5.3% (2,743) fewer than on 30 June 2024 (52,043), and 19.7% (12,115) less than on 30 September 2023 (61,426).
- The median waiting time was 51.0 weeks and the 95th percentile was 277.9 weeks (approximately 5 years and 18 weeks).
- 76.2% (37,569) of patients were waiting more than 13 weeks for admission, compared with 75.2% (39,142) on 30 June 2024 and 75.9% (46,607) on 30 September 2023.
- 49.4% (24,336) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for admission, compared with 48.3% (25,147) on 30 June 2024 and 48.1% (29,536) on 30 September 2023.
South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts
- 60,195 patients were waiting for inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in the South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts on 30 September 2024.
- 74.1% (44,612) of patients were waiting more than 13 weeks for admission.
- 47.5% (28,599) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for admission.
Waiting Times for a Diagnostic Service
- The figures provided separately for South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts are from encompass and are considered to be ‘official statistics in development’. Therefore, caution must be exercised when using these figures.
- The draft 2024/25 target for diagnostic waiting times states that, by March 2025, 75% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a diagnostic test, with no patient waiting longer than 26 weeks.
Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts
- 123,067 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test in the Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 30 September 2024, 1.1% (1,390) more than on 30 June 2024 (121,677), and 18.9% (19,564) more than on 30 September 2023 (103,503).
- 63.2% (77,810) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a diagnostic test, compared with 61.4% (74,713) on 30 June 2024 and 53.9% (57,257) on 30 September 2023.
- 38.6% (47,551) of patients were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test compared with 35.2% (42,828) on 30 June 2024 and 25.5% (27,036) on 30 September 2023.
South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts
- 94,968 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test in the South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts.
- 64.7% (61,481) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a diagnostic test.
- 43.4% (41,177) of patients were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test.
Diagnostic Reporting Turnaround Times
- Figures in this section do not include the South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts, as validated data were not available at the time of publication.
- The draft 2024/25 target for diagnostic reporting times states that, by March 2025, all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within two days of the test being undertaken.
Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts
- 260,319 diagnostic tests were reported on at hospitals in the Northern, Southern and Western HSC Trusts during the quarter ending September 2024. Of these, 30.3% (78,960) were urgent tests and the remaining 69.7% (181,359) were routine tests.
- Of the 78,960 urgent diagnostic tests, 78.4% (78,960) were reported on within 2 days.
Notes to editors:
The publications are available online at:
About the Data
The sources for the data contained in these releases are:
- HSC Trust Patient Administration Systems;
- encompass;
- DoH Outpatient Waiting Times Dataset;
- DoH CH3, QOAR, R-QOAR, V-QOAR and IS1 part 1 outpatient activity returns;
- DoH Inpatient Waiting Times Dataset;
- Hospital Inpatient System;
- DoH IS1 part 2 inpatient activity return;
- DoH SDR1 diagnostics return; and
- DOH DRTT diagnostics return.
Outpatient Definitions
An outpatient appointment is to enable a patient to see a consultant or a member of their team following an outpatient referral. While most referrals will be from a GP, they may also be received from a range of other sources.
These appointments provide an opportunity for consultation, investigation, and minor treatment. Appointments can be face-to-face or virtual and patients are not admitted into hospital.
A first attendance is the first of a series or the only attendance at an outpatient service.
Waiting time for a first outpatient appointment begins on the date the HSC Trust receives a referral to a consultant‑led service. Unlike legacy (pre-encompass) data, figures sourced from encompass are currently taken from the point of completed patient triage.
Inpatient and Day Case Definitions
Inpatient and day case waiting list data comprise the number of patients waiting for inpatient and day case admission to hospital.
Inpatient admissions are patients admitted electively, with the expectation that they will remain in hospital for at least one night.
Day case admissions are patients admitted electively with the expectation that, although they may require supervised recovery, they do not require the use of a hospital bed overnight and will return home as scheduled the same day.
Waiting time begins from the date the clinician decided to admit the patient.
The waiting list figures presented include people waiting to be admitted as inpatients either as day cases or inpatient admissions. They do not include:
- Patients admitted as emergency cases;
- Patients waiting for planned admission i.e. patients given proposed date of admission determined by social or clinical criteria;
- Patients undergoing a planned programme of treatment e.g. a series of admissions for chemotherapy;
- Patients waiting for admission as a regular day or night attender;
- Patients waiting for maternity specialties (except where the intention is to terminate the pregnancy);
- Patients waiting who are currently admitted for another reason; or
- Patients who are temporarily suspended for medical or social reasons.
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; or
- Patients waiting for procedures as part of a screening programme.
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;
- Plain Film X-rays;
- Barium Studies;
- DEXA Scan;
- Radionuclide Imaging;
- Pure Tone Audiometry;
- Echocardiography;
- Perfusion Studies;
- Peripheral Neurophysiology;
- Sleep Studies; and
- Urodynamics Pressures and Flows.
Day case endoscopies are reported on the day of the test and are, therefore, not included in diagnostic reporting times.
This information is provided by Hospital Waits Information Branch, Department of Health. Further information is available from:
Hospital Waits Information Branch
Department of Health
Annexe 2, Castle Buildings
Stormont
BT4 3SQ.
Telephone: 028 9076 5725
e-mail: Statistics@health-ni.gov.uk
Internet: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/dhssps-statistics-and-research/hospital-waiting-times-statistics
Media Enquiries
For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by e-mail: pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk
Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter: @healthdpt
The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800 hrs and 0800 hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.