Nearly two-thirds of women with suspected breast cancer being referred urgently to Cork University Hospital (CUH) are not being seen within the target time of 10 working days.

Menawhile, hundreds of thousands of patients around the country are still on long waiting lists for outpatient appointments.

According to the latest HSE performance report, a very significant deterioration in performance for urgent referrals to the CUH breast cancer service was reported in July.

Only 39.2% of urgent referrals were seen within the targeted timeframe of 10 working days.

According to the HSE, the hospital has reported that this delay is due to capacity issues as well as ' less than optimal management of annual leave arrangements.'

Sixty per cent of urgent breast cancer test referrals to CUH were seen within 14 working days in July, with the remainder seen within 17 working days, according to the HSE.

All the seven other major breast cancer clinics around the country saw 100% of urgent referrals within 10 working days in July, according to the performance report.

According to the report, a total of 339,441 people were on outpatient waiting lists nationally at the end of July, with 113,306 waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment.

This is a reduction on the June figure, which reported 361,795 on outpatient lists and 117,275 waiting over a year for an appointment.

However, there are now nearly 17,000 patients waiting over four years for an outpatient appointment, according to the HSE stats.

The Galway Hospital Group has the highest number of public patients waiting for an outpatient appointment for over a year, at 21,089, followed by Waterford Regional Hospital, with 21,089.