The Health Minister has acknowledged there's 'more work to be done' to reduce the number of people on hospitals waiting lists.

It comes as statistics show there's been a slight rise in the number of patients on outpatient waiting lists in the last month.

New figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) show almost 516,000 people were waiting at the end of October.

There was a 1% drop in inpatient (IPDC) waiting lists to 72,718.

The number of patients waiting for a GI endoscopy has gone up by 2% to just under 18,000.

Commenting on the figures, Simon Harris observed: "I am pleased to see that the number of patients waiting for an Inpatient or Day case procedure has fallen again this month, to 72,000, from a peak of 86,100 in July 2017.

"This represents a 16% reduction in the overall number of patients waiting for an inpatient or day case procedure."

However, he added: "We accept there is more work to be done and that is why in Budget 2019 the Government has further increased investment in this area.

"Funding to the NTPF will increase from €55 million in 2018 to €75 million in 2019."

He noted that the number of patients waiting for a procedure is projected to fall below 59,000 by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil's health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly said some of the figures are 'truly astonishing'.

He observed: “151,432 people have been waiting for an outpatient appointment for more than 12 months.

"It is the equivalent of Limerick city and suburbs combined with Waterford city and suburbs. It would fill the Aviva stadium three times over.”

However, he also suggested the fall in the day care waiting list is 'further evidence' of the success of the NTPF.