Health Minister has announced a package of
initiatives to tackle hospital care backlogs, including a Waiting
List Reimbursement Scheme.
An initial £10m will be invested in this Scheme, allowing people
to claim back costs when they receive treatments outside Northern
Ireland, subject to qualifying criteria.
Beginning in June 2025, it will apply to procedures
obtained in the Republic of Ireland and will subsequently be
extended to the rest of the European Union. The Reimbursement
Scheme will be available to patients waiting two years or more on
a hospital treatment waiting list in NI. Patients will
require prior approval from the Department of Health before
accessing the scheme.
Other initiatives for the year ahead involve:
* Targeting long waits – four years or more – including hip, knee
and other orthopaedic treatments; tonsillectomies; hernia
treatment; gallbladder removal (lap choles) and colonoscopy.
* Significantly reducing waiting lists for children requiring
specialist procedures such as peg tubes, scopes and scoliosis
surgery, as well as waiting times for women waiting on
gynaecology mesh removal procedures
* Partnership arrangements with independent sector providers to
clear outpatient waits of four years plus in Ophthalmology,
Orthopaedics; General Surgery; Gynaecology, ENT and other
specialties.
* £10m in funding for mega clinics for an estimated 20,000
additional patients. Mega clinics provide groups of patients with
a ‘one stop shop' which can involve, for example, surgical review
and anaesthetic preoperative assessment in a single appointment.
* Expansion of red flag and time critical capacity across a range
of specialties, including: Endoscopy; Diagnostic Imaging (eg MRI
and CT); Urology, Breast Surgery; Dermatology; Systemic
Anti-Cancer Therapy and Cardiac Surgery.
* Expansion of Primary Care Elective Service capacity in
dermatology, minor surgery, and gynaecology. It is estimated that
£2.9m would allow the service to see and treat approximately
16,500 patients in 2025/26.
* Partnership working with the voluntary sector to deliver a
£500,000 per year Waiting Well Programme to help and support
those waiting for treatment and a £1m per year Cancer Charities
Programme to deliver cancer work in the community to reduce
pressures on statutory services.
The Health Minister said: “These planned investments
reflect the Executive's ringfencing of up to £215m in this year's
Health budget for waiting list activities – in line with the
finalised Programme for Government.
“This breaks down into £85m for red flag and time
critical care; £80m for building up capacity to address the
long-standing mismatch with demand; and up to £50m to start
tackling the backlog in care.
“Investment at this level will need to be sustained for
at least five years to bring hospital waiting times down to
acceptable levels. We are only at the foothills of what will be a
long uphill trek.
“I will provide more details on the different initiatives
later this month with publication of an implementation plan for
my Department's Elective Care Framework.”
The Minister continued: “Only £50m of the ringfenced
£215m total has involved additional monies for my
Department.
“The initiatives being announced today are in large part
being funded by monies diverted from my core budget for day to
day services. That will have unavoidable consequences for wider
health and social care provision.
“In the coming weeks, my Department will publish detailed
plans and assessments on the financial pressures this year and
the measures that will be needed in both the short and medium
terms.”
Notes to editors:
1. Minister's oral statement - https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/doh-ministerial-announcements-and-statements-2025
