Waiting lists show 'precarious' NI health service
Almost 108,000 people were waiting for an inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in Northern Ireland across all five health trusts on 30 June 2024
- Published
Surgeons have said that the latest waiting times data for Northern Ireland shows the "health service remains in a precarious state and investment in the surgical workforce is critical".
Available figures from the Department of Health show that more than 340,000 people in Northern Ireland were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment across four of its trust areas on 30 June 2024.
More than half of those patients have been waiting for more than a year.
However, these latest waiting time figures for Northern Ireland's five health trusts are incomplete or are considered "in development".
This is because of the rollout of a new patient digital record system.
On 9 November 2023, the South Eastern Health Trust launched Encompass, a new electronic patient record system.
These figures are the first to be published since it started to digitise health records.
The system also went live in Belfast Trust on 6 June 2024.
Its rollout across the other trusts will follow on a phased basis throughout 2024/25.
Almost a third of patients waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment are from the South Eastern trust.
Figures for Belfast Trust, the largest trust in Northern Ireland, have not been included as the data is not available.
'Burnout and stress'
Responding to the figures, Northern Ireland Director of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England), Mr Niall McGonigle, said as the data is incomplete, it makes comparison over time "extremely difficult".
“As surgeons working on the ground, we know that Northern Ireland’s health service remains in a precarious state, with huge pressures on a depleted and stretched workforce.
“We are concerned that the surgical workforce, on which much of the elective recovery relies, may reduce further in the coming years," he said.
Mr McGonigle said the RCS surgical workforce census showed that "91% of respondents aged 55 to 64 plan to retire in the next four years".
He said, "burnout and stress" are also leading surgeons to consider leaving the health service, which is "catastrophic when we need their expertise like never before".
Dr Alan Stout, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland Council said it wa "hard to hope that one day these figures will bring good news for everyone in Northern Ireland".
He added that there needs to be "radical change, with clinicians involved in the process to make sure services are delivered in a way that is timely and efficient".
Targets not being met
Data which is available for all five trusts show that almost 108,000 people were waiting for an inpatient or day case admission to hospitals in Northern Ireland on 30 June 2024.
It shows the worst waiters are in three surgical specialties - Ear Nose and Throat (ENT), Urology, and Trauma and Orthopaedics (T&O), with waits of up to five to six years.
In the first figures available for South Eastern Health Trust since it launched Encompass, show its waiting lists have increased by 3.4% since 31 March 2024 and 7.7% since 31 December 2023.
In contrast, fewer patients were waiting in the Northern, Southern and Western Trusts at the end of June 2024 compared to the last quarter and to June 2023.
However, targets across the four trusts for how long patients are waiting are not being met.
Initial figures from Belfast Trust show almost 43,000 patients were on its waiting list, but there are no comparators against previous months.
This represents two-fifths of the overall number of people waiting in Northern Ireland for an inpatient or day case admission to hospital.
Information from the Department of Health also show that there has been an increase in the number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test in the Northern, Southern and Western Trusts.
Targets for diagnostic waiting times are not being met.
In terms of turnarounds, just over three-quarters of urgent diagnostic tests were reported on within two days of the test being undertaken.
The draft 2024/25 target for diagnostic reporting times states that, by March 2025, all urgent diagnostic tests should be reported on within this time.
'Desperate need of a recurrent budget'
Niall McGonigle said the health service in Northern Ireland is in "desperate need of a recurrent budget to help with planning and approval of funds for the Minister’s five-year waiting list plan".
"There also needs to be greater investment in staff and a drive to improve working conditions – without this, patients will continue to languish on waiting lists with little hope of timely care," he said.