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Minister, you talked about building the workforce and the infrastructure required to tackle waiting lists in the long term. Many will ask how that can happen with more and more investment being funnelled into the private sector, as the statement makes clear, and more and more people being trained within the health…
I thank the Member for his question. As I have just said, our issues and challenges are not particular to us in Northern Ireland, so I do not accept that premise. The waiting list reimbursement scheme is based on the cross-border directive, which allowed patients to be reimbursed for treatment outside Northern…
Like other MLAs, I welcome the statement. Minister, your statement lays out the fact that you are reintroducing the waiting list reduction reimbursement scheme, which will permit people who are on a waiting list for at least two years to seek certain treatments in the Republic from June, and that the scheme will be…
Let me stress again that the cross-border scheme represents £10 million out of £215 million. Nearly every MLA in the House has contacted me about reinstating it. I am conscious of the equity issue that, if you cannot afford private healthcare, you are at a disadvantage relative to people who can afford to pay up…
Minister, like other Members, I welcome the reintroduction of the cross-border healthcare scheme and its extension. Many people have called for that, and, bluntly, many people want to have procedures while they are still around and can live a constructive life. Ultimately, however, it is true to say that that scheme,…
Minister, since you took up your post, I have been tormenting you about the reintroduction of the cross-border healthcare scheme. Along with other Members, I was seeking to represent the desires and needs of our constituents who have been languishing on waiting lists, in fear and, often, in pain and with impairments,…
I thank the Member, who raises an important point. Unfortunately — it is unfortunate, I think — there are no arrangements for patients who have already spent money on private treatment to be reimbursed, because the scheme will be open only to pre-authorised treatments, so we cannot work retrospectively. Like the…
I thank the Minister for his statement; it is welcome. My question is on the specifics of the waiting list reimbursement scheme. The Minister's announcement just over a month ago on the reinstatement of the cross-border scheme was so welcome, and I was inundated with queries, so, on the back of today's statement, I…
Minister, I greatly welcome today's announcement. It is brilliant to hear the news about the cross-border initiative, the two phases and the cancer plan. It is all good stuff in the statement. Thank you for listening to Members who lobbied on that. Minister, you mentioned really positive stuff about the gynaecology…
I thank the Minister for his statement and for the work that he is doing to reduce waiting lists. Minister, I joined you on a visit to the South West Acute Hospital. I recall that, during that engagement, you specifically asked to see the uncommissioned theatre space. Like my fellow MLA from Fermanagh and South Tyrone…
I agree about the equity issue and urge the Minister to look at that. He said that he has set aside £10 million for those who have been on the waiting list for two years. Will he ensure that that £10 million is spent fully, even if it means reducing the two-year target that he set?
I welcome the statement, Minister, and I welcome your and the Executive's commitment to reducing the number of patients on our unacceptably high waiting lists. You highlighted the waiting list reduction reimbursement scheme, which will allow patients from the North to seek treatment in the South and, eventually,…
I welcome the Minister's statement. Minister, will you indicate, for those whom I represent, what benefits the investment will bring to Causeway Hospital, specifically with regard to using theatres or scanners and its becoming an elective hub?
I thank the Minister for his statement today. There is certainly a lot in it. While the ambition is welcome, it is concerning that mental health services are noticeably absent. The Minister will be aware that thousands of people across Northern Ireland are suffering on mental health waiting lists for treatment and…
I thank the Member for her question. The waiting list reimbursement scheme is just one of a number of mechanisms, as I outlined in my remarks. It is part of a cocktail that will involve using HSC capacity and the independent sector to expand. I point out to the Member that the budget for the waiting list reimbursement…
Thank you, Minister. This is a welcome statement that says all the right things, but, of course, we need to see the plan and how it will be implemented. That is the most important thing. I will rehearse a question that I have asked many times before. The waiting list reduction reimbursement scheme will allow a…
Thank you, Minister, for your answers so far. We know about the very concerning waiting times for cancer referral, diagnosis and treatment. Will you give us detail on how the combined initiatives will begin to have a positive impact on waiting times? How impactful will they be on bringing those waiting times in all…
Today's statement will be hugely welcome news for many of the people across Northern Ireland who are on waiting lists. The Minister uses the word "urgency" in his statement. Will he give a commitment that his Department is approaching the issue with the urgency that patients and staff want to see and that he wants to…
I thank the Minister for his statement and welcome the actions that he has outlined. It is really important that we tackle waiting lists, particularly for long waiters and those who are on critical and red-flag lists. However, we often hear at Committee that there are people who are on multiple lists across multiple…
I thank the Minister for his statement. Tackling waiting lists is important, but, obviously, I want to see the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) at the top of the list in the commissioning of theatre space. What are the Minister and his Department doing to ensure that the SWAH does get that extra commissioned theatre…
I thank the Member for the two questions. On the question about the £2·9 million, we hope to treat 16,500 patients with that. It will be for the implementation plan to break that down further, so you should be able to study that by the end of this month. Commissioning new services is not on my agenda, with exception…
I very much welcome your statement, Minister, particularly around the initial £10 million for the waiting list reduction reimbursement scheme that should, hopefully, commence in June for people who have been on a HSC waiting list for treatment for the past two years. On the expansion of primary-care elective services…
I thank the Member for his question. Encompass is a marvellous system. It needs time to bed in. I know that there is frustration — I feel it too — when some trusts are unable to report the data that we would like to see. On his substantive point, of course, I want to be open and transparent about what we are doing…
Thank you for your statement, Minister. Of course, we welcome anything that can be done to address waiting times. However, I am concerned that the plan continues to rely on outside providers, over whom we have no control, and repurposes existing staff complements, when unions tell us that staff are already worked to…