New figures show more than 2,000 people have been on inpatient waiting lists for more than 18 months at hospitals that serve the Shannonside region.
A further 1,330 people have been seeking day-case treatment at the seven hospitals for between 15 and 18 months.
The National Treatment Purchase Fund’s figures for the end of May show more and more people in Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford are waiting for inpatient or day-case treatment.
Galway University Hospital has the longest inpatient waiting list of the seven Shannonside hospitals, with almost 11,500 people seeking treatment.
Of those, 1,461 have been on it for more than 18 months, with a further 778 waiting for between 15 months and a year and a half.
The next longest list is at Sligo University Hospital, where 3,337 are waiting for a day-case or inpatient care, with 248 waiting for at least 15 months.
Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore is slightly better, but there are still 2,571 patients waiting treatment, with 280 waiting at least a year and a half.
Roscommon University Hospital has 2,375 people awaiting treatment, with 433 people and seeking inpatient or day-case treatment for more than 15 months.
The lists at Mullingar, Portiuncula and Cavan hospitals are far shorter, with less than 1,200 people on the lists across the three facilities.
