HSE waiting lists: where you stand and what you can do

How long the lists are

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) publishes the public hospital waiting lists every month. These were the three main lists at the end of September 2026:

Counting everyone, including patients who already have a date, those waiting for a planned procedure and those whose place is on hold, 1,040,698 people were on a hospital waiting list. Of them, 64,718 had waited 18 months or more, and another 86,482 between 12 and 18 months.

Where you stand on the list

Your public hospital can tell you. The NTPF advises patients to contact the hospital's waiting list office for an update on where they stand. The NTPF's monthly waiting list reports also show how many people are waiting in each specialty and at each hospital.

If your symptoms get worse while you wait, see your GP.

Four ways to be treated sooner

The National Treatment Purchase Fund. The NTPF pays for treatment in a private hospital in Ireland for a number of treatments, among them cataract surgery, hip and knee replacement, hernia repair, varicose veins and hysterectomy. Usually the hospital or the NTPF contacts you if your treatment is on the list, you have waited more than three months and you are clinically suitable. You can also ask your hospital, or the doctor who referred you, about being referred to the NTPF.

The Cross Border Directive. Treatment at a public or private hospital you choose in another country of the European Union or the European Economic Area. Your GP, or a consultant who sees you as a public patient, refers you. You pay the hospital first, and the HSE pays you back the lower of the price and the Irish public cost. You do not need to be on a waiting list.

The Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme. Treatment with a private provider in Northern Ireland, for care that is available to public patients in Ireland. A GP or consultant refers you, you pay first, and the HSE pays back part of the cost.

The Treatment Abroad Scheme. For treatment that is not available in Ireland, or not in the time normally needed for your condition. Your public hospital consultant applies for you, and the HSE must approve it before you travel. How it differs from the Cross Border Directive is set out in Treatment Abroad Scheme or Cross Border Directive?

If the NTPF offers you treatment

• The treatment is free: the consultation, any further tests or procedures, and the physiotherapy or other treatment the consultant decides you need.
• The NTPF does not pay for medication, travel or accommodation.
• The hospital may not be the nearest one: the NTPF looks at where you live, but offers treatment where it has found capacity.
• The NTPF's letter asks whether you accept, want to stay on your local waiting list, or want to be removed from it.
• The NTPF can only pay for treatment it arranged in advance. It cannot refund treatment you arranged yourself.

Where Ablement fits in

Ablement helps with the Cross Border Directive only. We find the hospital, arrange the consultation and the treatment, and prepare your claim to the HSE. The hospital pays us, so our help costs you nothing. What the HSE pays back for each treatment is on What the HSE pays back, and the rules in full are on Your rights.

The NTPF, the Northern Ireland scheme and the Treatment Abroad Scheme are run by the NTPF and the HSE. We do not arrange them, and we are not part of the HSE.