Written question AQW 8282/22-27
Written question by Mrs Diane Dodds on .
- MLA
- Mrs Diane Dodds
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 6 March 2024
- Type
- Written question
- Assembly reference
- AQW 8282/22-27
- Department
- Department of Health
- Business
- To the Minister of Health
- Assembly identifier
- Document 392521
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
To ask the Minister of Health (i) for an estimate of the number of endoscopies that will not take place between January 2024 and the end of the current financial year, that would have taken place had his Department not instructed the independent sector to cease providing endoscopies for the NHS in January 2024; (ii), using previous statistics, for an estimate of the proportion of that figure that would result in a cancer diagnosis; (iii) for his assessment of the implications of resulting late diagnosis for those patients on their long-term prognosis; (iv) for his assessment of the implications on the cost to the NHS in terms of patient care arising from late diagnosis; and (v) what discussions he has had with the Minister of Finance and the Executive in relation to releasing some of the additional £846 million offered by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the Minister of Finance on 13 February 2024 for the remainder of this financial year to allow these endoscopy procedures to recommence immediately.
171 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.04 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.97).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.97 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 20 October 2026 at 21:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r1, methodology 1.0.
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