Diane Dodds MLA said:
"Across Northern Ireland, we have people in desperate need of care who urgently require that first consultant-led appointment, which is essentially the gateway to a better health outcome.
Yet, we have seen a 9.4% rise in the number of people awaiting this appointment in the Northern, Southern, and Western Health and Social Care Trusts. For many people, the wait is simply too long. Those who can afford it seek private health provision, but for many, this is simply unaffordable, and they face years of ongoing ill health and worry.
The system is not working and requires a radical overhaul if better outcomes are to be achieved. That reform was laid out in the 'Systems, Not Structures' report by Professor Bengoa, but we are still waiting for the Department to implement the recommendations outlined. Funding is vital if we are to deliver effective transformation for the future, and the Minister must constructively engage with Executive colleagues to make the case to the Treasury for more resources. In the short term, he must also increase budget allocations aimed at reducing waiting lists.
Staff in our health service are doing their absolute utmost to provide the best possible care, but they need more support in doing so. I am asking the Assembly to endorse our motion, calling for the Minister and the Government to provide that support."
Ends
Motion reads as follows:
That this Assembly acknowledges the deepening crisis engulfing the health service; believes current hospital waiting times are unacceptable and must be urgently and sustainably addressed; notes with particular concern the 9.4 per cent rise in the number of patients waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment in the Northern, Southern and Western Health & Social Care Trusts between June 2023 and June 2024; reiterates support for the full and timely implementation of the Systems, not Structures report by Professor Rafael Bengoa in order to deliver a more effective, efficient and responsive health service; recognises the importance of transformation being clinically led, as well as the need to value and reward our dedicated frontline health professionals; expresses concern that the stabilisation package agreed with the Government in December 2023 is insufficient to enable the immediate sustainability of public services or to take forward the much-needed transformation agenda; further believes there is a need for a new, long-term financial settlement with the Treasury; calls on the Minister of Health to work with Executive colleagues to strongly make the case for additional funding from the Treasury; and further calls on the Minister to prioritise and allocate additional resources to tackle the backlog in hospital waiting lists in the delivery of the Executive’s forthcoming Programme for Government.