Oireachtas Health Committee member Dr John Crown has claimed that outpatient waiting lists could in realty be longer than official figures currently state.

He told the Health Committee yesterday that a new method of calculating waiting lists had been adopted which meant that people were not counted as being on a list until they received a specific time for a hospital appointment 

This, Dr Crown claimed meant that a patient might not be included on a waiting list while their GP was awaiting a response to his or her referral letter seeking a hospital appointment.

The Minister said he would look into the allegation.

According to official Department of Health figures, there were a total of 378,840 on outpatient lists at the end of October, compared to 386,384 in September.

The numbers waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment dropped from 84,423 to 71,441 between September and October, the figures state.

Minister Reilly, responding to a query from Dr Crown about a shortage of obstetricians, said the Savita Halappanavar tragedy in Galway could not be excused by staffing numbers.