A report from the Department of Health's Special Delivery Unit has said that the level of overcrowding in emergency departments this month is down compared to the same period in the previous two years.
It also found that this January was as busy or busier than the same month in 2011 and 2010.
The SDU has been targeting problem emergency departments and trying to cut inpatient and day case treatments since last September.
Dr Martin Connor, special advisor to the SDU, said at the end of last year 360 patients were waiting more than a year for inpatient medical or surgical treatment.
The target was to have no patients waiting more than a year.
The figures are an improvement on 2009, when just under 1,000 patients were waiting more than a year.
However, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation General Secretary Liam Doran warned that improvements could be reversed unless the Government deals with the impact of mass-retirements next month.
Mr Doran said the situation in emergency departments had also improved because beds were being moved up to wards, but this had implications for services on the wards too.
He called for an initiative to allow extra staff to be employed and more beds to be reopened.
