Preliminary statistics, published on Thursday, indicate a sharp drop.

Department of health figures from across the province give a total of 57,600 people waiting for treatment - a drop of 2,500.

While the overall total has fallen, the number of people who have been waiting a long time shows the sharpest drop.

The number of people who have been waiting in breach of patients charter standards - 12 months for heart surgery or 18 months for other surgery - is down by 800.

Northern Ireland Office Health Minister Des Browne, welcomed the figures as "very good news for patients".

Check calls

"Obviously there is still a long way to go, but this shows clearly that the efforts we have been putting into this area, particularly in improving the management of waiting lists, are now beginning to bear fruit," he said.

"It is important that we build on what has been achieved so far in terms of inpatient waiting lists.

"I shall now be looking to the service to focus effort over coming months on improving waiting times for outpatients also."

The decline is largely due to hospitals getting money to set up initiatives to target waiting lists and to a comprehensive programme of trying to validate everyone who is still in the queue.

When check calls are made to patients waiting for treatment, the number falls for a variety of reasons.

Some people will have moved house, are being treated elsewhere, are getting better, or may even have died, either from the complaint they were waiting to have treated or from an unrelated illness.