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Almost 360,000 people in Northern Ireland are waiting for a first consultant-led appointment, according to figures from the Department of Health.

The statistics found that 358,346 people were waiting at the end of September.

That is an increase of almost 9,500 on the previous quarter.

More than half of patients are still waiting more than a year for a first appointment with a consultant.

The ministerial target is that by March next year there should be no patients waiting longer than a year for a first outpatient appointment, and at least half of patients should wait no longer than nine weeks.

By the end of September, just over 116,000 patients were waiting to be admitted to hospitals in Northern Ireland.

That was a rise of 2.9% on the previous quarter and was up 16.5% on September 2020 figures.

'Patients in limbo'

There was also a total of more than 147,000 patients waiting for a diagnostic test in the most recent statistics, fewer than the 160,000 patients waiting in September 2020.

This is an examination, test or procedure to identify a person's disease or condition.

More than half of the most recent figure, 81,832, were waiting more than nine weeks.

Responding to the report, Sara Graham, Northern Ireland director at the charity Versus Arthritis, said waiting lists in Northern Ireland had left many patients "in limbo".

"Current figures confirm Northern Ireland as the UK's pain capital with the worst waiting times of anywhere in the country," she described.

"Some people with arthritis in Northern Ireland are waiting a staggering six years, while others are forced to consider private treatment and risk their financial stability."

Following the publication of the previous quarter's waiting times in August, Health Minister Robin Swann said the figures were not "where we want them to be" and called for more resources to be made available.