908,519 patients in Ireland are currently on some form of public hospital waiting list. an increase of almost 25,000 since April.
Members of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association says a low number of consultants was the root of the problem.
While the cyberattack on the HSE and the Covid-19 pandemic are also being said to have had a significant impact.
Stephen McMahon from the Irish Patients Association says the problems with the Health Service are nothing new:
"Our Health Service was in crisis before Covid happened [...] When someone is waiting over a year for surgery or waiting more than a year to see a consultant, they can deteriorate, and end up in our Emergency Department."
With that number expected to increase in the coming months Stephen McMahon, says the resumption of international travel could be a solution:
"Cross border activity for patients [...] that they can get treatment in another [EU] member state. So we would urge the minister to engage other health ministers to ensure Irish patients can get timely access to care in other states if they can't get it here."
