More than half of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the Western Health and Social Care Trust have been waiting over a year, new figures show.

Department of Health quarterly statistics reveal that 42,552 patients, representing 52.1% of the Trust’s outpatient waiting list, had been waiting longer than 52 weeks by March 31, 2026. This breaches the official target that no patient should wait more than 52 weeks.

The data covers 81,722 patients awaiting a consultant-led outpatient appointment in the Western Trust area. Of these, just 12,625 (15.4%) were seen within nine weeks, missing a separate target that half of patients should be treated in that timeframe. A further 26,545 patients (32.5%) received an appointment between nine and 52 weeks.

Across Northern Ireland, no health trust met either element of the outpatient waiting times targets during the quarter, according to the bulletin.