The Minister for Health has published the Waiting Time Action Plan (WTAP) for 2026. This year is expected to see major digitalisation in an effort to reach targeted reductions in waiting times for inpatient and outpatient appointments.
The plan sets out six overarching and interconnected targets, which will be achieved through the delivery of 36 actions under three themes – reforming planned care; enabling planned care; and capacity optimisation.
A number of measures will be implemented to maximise scheduled care capacity, including further deployment of the out-patient department (OPD) Clinic Capacity Optimisation toolkit, and chronological scheduling across all specialties. The OPD Toolkit is already operated across four hospitals. It is estimated that, last year, the initiative resulted in an estimated additional 2,700 new OPD appointments. Once implemented across the HSE it is expected to deliver an additional 103,000 new OPD patient attendances this year.
Tech and tools
A host of digital technologies and tools are planned to support and facilitate the longer-term reform of waiting lists. These include an endoscopy reporting system and further roll out of the endoscopy electronic referral system, as well as continued expansion of virtual patient engagement. There will be further implementation of artificial intelligence and automation processes to support the management of certain aspects of waiting lists. Data mining solutions are planned to improve capacity utilisation, and enhanced data visualisation dashboards will continue to be embedded across hospitals and health regions to improve productivity and performance oversight. Additional features will be added to the HSE Health App to support waiting list management.
Launching the WTAP, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “The Waiting Time Action Plan is a multi-faceted approach with one overarching aim, to ensure people get access to faster care and achieve better health outcomes. It will ensure that we build on the progress we have already made in reforming our health service and continue to boost productivity and efficiency, while developing alternative care pathways and shifting towards care in community settings.”
“In order to reduce waiting times we need to see more activity that results in patients receiving care, particularly those waiting the longest. As detailed in the Action Plan, this will be achieved through a combination of measures including service reforms and innovation; increased productivity and improved performance; investment in infrastructure and staffing; embracing digital solutions; and supplemented by targeted additional capacity via the NTPF,” she said.
HSE committed
HSE CEO, Bernard Gloster, said: “The Waiting Time Action Plan is one which is totally focused on time waiting for people to access healthcare. While we have made improvements in recent years we are conscious that for many the wait time from referral to discharge is still too long. Building on the efforts of our staff in the past, the Minister has made available a variety of both reforms and resources which when combined in 2026 will take our improvements to a new level. Ease of comfort for the public followed by satisfaction for our staff are what will be the hallmarks of the achievements in the outcomes of this Plan. The HSE is totally committed to reducing time waiting for an ever increasing amount of people as a means to better health.”
Targets for 2026 include 50 per cent of patients to be waiting less than 10 weeks for OPD appointments and 12 weeks for inpatient or day case (IPDC) procedures, as well as 65 per cent of patients to be waiting less than 12 weeks for GI Scopes. The aim is to reduce the weighted average wait time to less than 5.5 months for OPD and IPDC, and to less than 3.5 months for GI Scopes.
The implementation of the WTAP 2026 will be overseen by the Waiting List Task Force, which is co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the CEO of the HSE.
The multi-annual waiting list action plan approach was initiated in September 2021 to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists and waiting times. The weighted average waiting time for OPD appointments reduced from 12.8 months in September 2021 to 6.8 months at the end of December 2025, representing a decrease of approximately 47 per cent.
