Publication of the Quarterly Northern Ireland Outpatient, Inpatient and Day Case, and Diagnostic Waiting Times Statistics - position on 31 December 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 31 December 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. Given the relatively recent transition of Northern Trust to completely digitised health records, no validated data were available for this Trust at the time of publication.
The data which it has been possible to include for South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts have been presented separately, as they are not directly comparable with the other Trusts. 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 throughout these statistical bulletins for the Trusts using encompass for which data are available i.e. South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts, are presented separately. Charts and figures with time series only include data to 31 December 2024 for the Southern and Western HSC Trusts. *
Waiting Times for a First Outpatient Appointment
1. 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. Validated data for the Northern HSC Trust were not available at the time of publication.
Southern and Western HSC Trusts
2. The draft target for outpatient waiting times states that 50% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.
3. 167,452 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at hospitals in the Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 31 December 2024, 0.6% (921) more than on 30 September 2024 (166,531), and 12.1% (18,037) more than on 31 December 2023 (149,415).
4. The median waiting time was 67.6 weeks and the 95th percentile waiting time was 288.6 weeks.
5. 87.8% (147,048) of patients were waiting more than nine weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 31 December 2024, compared with 86.5% (144,011) on 30 September 2024 and 86% (128,476) on 31 December 2023.
6. 56.5% (94,588) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 31 December 2024, compared with 55.5% (92,378) on 30 September 2024 and 52.5% (78,502) on 31 December 2023.
Belfast and South Eastern HSC Trusts
7. 274,341 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment at hospitals in the Belfast and South Eastern HSC Trusts on 31 December 2024.
8. The median waiting time was 60.1 weeks and the 95th percentile waiting time was 308.1 weeks.
9. 87.3% (239,535) of patients were waiting more than nine weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 31 December 2024.
10. 54.2% (148,819) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment on 31 December 2024.
Waiting Times for Inpatient and Day Case Admission
1. 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. Validated data for the Northern HSC Trust were not available at the time of publication.
2. The draft target for inpatient and day case waiting times states that 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for inpatient/ day case treatment; with no patient waiting longer than 52 weeks.
Southern and Western HSC Trusts
3. 34,690 patients were waiting for inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in the Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 31 December 2024, 8.9% (3,382) fewer than on 30 September 2024 (38,072), and 23.4% (10,597) less than on 31 December 2023 (45,287).
4. The median waiting time was 54.7 weeks and the 95th percentile was 294.1 weeks (approximately 5 years and 34 weeks).
5. 74.8% (25,931) of patients were waiting more than 13 weeks for admission, compared with 77.8% (29,634) on 30 September 2024 and 77.1% (34,930) on 31 December 2023.
6. 50.8% (17,616) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for admission, compared with 52.8% (20,108) on 30 September 2024 and 51.8% (23,468) on 31 December 2023.
South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts
7. 59,715 patients were waiting for inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in the South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts on 31 December 2024.
8. The median waiting time was 45.1 weeks and the 95th percentile was 330.2 weeks (approximately 6 years and 18 weeks).
9. 71.7% (42,832) of patients were waiting more than 13 weeks for admission.
10. 46.5% (27,777) of patients were waiting more than 52 weeks for admission.
Waiting Times for a Diagnostic Service
1. 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. Validated data for the Northern Trust were not available at the time of publication.
2. The draft target for diagnostic waiting times states that 75% of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks for a diagnostic test, with no patient waiting longer than 26 weeks.
Southern and Western HSC Trusts
3. 73,989 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test in the Southern and Western HSC Trusts on 31 December 2024, 0.7% (484) more than on 30 September 2024 (73,505), and 9.2% (6,243) more than on 31 December 2023 (67,746).
4. 66.6% (49,293) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a diagnostic test, compared with 64.4% (47,349) on 30 September 2024 and 62.8% (42,524) on 31 December 2023.
5. 38.5% (28,494) of patients were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test compared with 37.8% (27,819) on 30 September 2024 and 34.9% (23,645) on 31 December 2023.
South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts
6. 96,022 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test in the South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts.
7. 67.4% (64,721) of patients were waiting more than 9 weeks for a diagnostic test.
8. 44.5% (42,696) of patients were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test.
Diagnostic Reporting Turnaround Times
1. 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. Validated data for the Northern Trust were not available at the time of publication.
2. The draft target for diagnostic reporting times states that all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within two days of the test being undertaken.
Southern and Western HSC Trusts
3. 168,365 diagnostic tests were reported on at hospitals in the Southern and Western HSC Trusts during the quarter ending December 2024. Of these, 27.0% (45,446) were urgent tests and the remaining 73.0% (122,919) were routine tests.
4. Of the 45,446 urgent diagnostic tests, 82.0% (37,251) were reported on within 2 days.
South Eastern and Belfast HSC Trusts
5. 195,019 diagnostic tests were reported on at hospitals in the Belfast and South Eastern HSC Trusts during the quarter ending December 2024. Of these, 22.5% (43,935) were urgent tests and the remaining 77.5% (151,084) were routine tests.
6. Of the 43,935 urgent diagnostic tests, 69.2% (30,386) were reported on within 2 days.
Notes to editors:
1. The publications are available online at:
https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/northern-ireland-waiting-time-statistics-outpatient-waiting-times-december-2024
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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/hospital-waiting-times-statistics
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