One in nine of Northern Ireland's population is waiting for a hospital outpatient appointment, it emerged today.
The British government is expected to announce an overhaul of waiting times tomorrow in a bid to tackle delays which the Health Minister will brand unacceptable.
Shaun Woodward will announce ambitious new targets at Craigavon Hospital, Co Armagh tomorrow. The move comes as figures show goals set last summer to reduce inpatient and daycase waiting times are being met.
The crackdown on outpatient waiting times follows an increase of 14.2 per cent in the number waiting on a first appointment.
Figures for the year to September 2005 revealed 187,025 people - around a ninth of the population - are waiting on an initial appointment.
The statistics contrast with inpatient and daycase results which have improved markedly in the last 12 months.
The number of people awaiting treatment has fallen by 22 per cent from an all-time high of 60,190 in September 2002 to 46,944 last September.
Last summer Mr Woodward announced, by the end of March, no patient in the province will be waiting more than 12 months for inpatient or daycase treatment.
It is understood the number of patients waiting more than 12 months has fallen by 70 per cent from 4,000 at the end of June to 1,250.
Meanwhile the number of patients waiting more than 12 months for treatment is believed to be at its lowest level for a decade.