A new HSE report has revealed that over 600 people have been waiting for at least four years to see a consultant at Ennis General Hospital.
The document also reveals the extent of overspending on the local health service, and a continued high absenteeism rate in the county hospital.
4,504 people are waiting to be seen at the outpatient clinic of Ennis General Hospital, with half of these on the list for at least a year.
Of these 2253 people, over a quarter have been waiting since at least 2008, according to the HSE’s Performance Report for July.
The figures for Limerick Regional are even more worrying – 14,200 have been waiting 12 months for an appointment there, with nearly 5,000 waiting for over 4 years.
Nationally, 113,000 patients have been waiting a year or more to be seen.
This report also outlines the state of the various hospitals’ finances, and again this makes for grim reading with Limerick Regional Hospital coming in 14.6m euro over budget through to the end of July.
Ennis General is also over budget, though only by 162 thousand euro, though absenteeism remains a problem at the county hospital.
Over 7% of staff were absent during July, among the worst nationwide, though the figure has improved on this time last year.
