Debate contribution: Neurology: Waiting Times
Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Neurology: Waiting Times
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5742251
Read the official Assembly record
Text
It is essential that we reduce waiting times, but we must also improve support for people while they wait, which is what the Member talked about. Services need to ensure that referrals are reviewed according to clinical need and that people whose conditions worsen can be identified and assessed more quickly. Better specialist advice for general practitioners can help some patients to begin appropriate tests or treatment without having to wait for hospital appointments. My Department's regional review also recommends protected urgent appointments for people who are at risk of hospital admission, clearer points of contact and stronger links with nursing services, therapy services and community and voluntary services. Those approaches require careful planning and appropriate staffing, but they are central to a safer service. Patients should not feel forgotten whilst they wait, and those with the most urgent needs should be identified and prioritised consistently across Northern Ireland.
149 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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