Scale of hospital waiting lists leading to more harm for patients, MLAs told

Niall McGonigle, the Northern Ireland director of the Royal College of Surgeons, told MLAs on the health committee that health workers are raising an “SOS” over the service being provided to patients.

Northern Ireland has the worst hospital waiting lists in the UK, with more than a quarter of the population waiting for an inpatient or outpatient appointment.

Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has previously pledged to “leave no stone unturned” in seeking to address spiralling waiting lists.

Mr McGonigle said: “The royal college fraternity has raised a red flag in the last couple of weeks, perhaps even an SOS, about the stresses of working in our health service and the level of service that we can currently provide to our patients.

“In surgery we are facing huge difficulties in terms of daily work and trying to address a backlog that has existed for over a decade.

“Despite best efforts we are in dire straits and action must be taken for the people of Northern Ireland.”

He added: “Presently around a quarter of Northern Ireland’s population is on a waiting list, either to see a consultant for the first time, for a diagnostic test or for elective in-patient treatment.

“That, in a population of 1.9 million people, equates to 26% of the population.

“This figure, for the same metrics in England, is about 12%.

“In order to clear those waiting lists it would take all day operating seven days a week for three years.

“The scale of waiting times is so severe now that we know patients are coming to harm.

“Conditions are progressing and they are becoming more complex.

“This can lead to more difficult operations and unfortunately in some cases surgery is no longer possible.

“We must also not forget the psychological and mental health implications of these prolonged waits, almost always without information on position on a waiting list and also the likely time to treatment on that waiting list.

“Simply put, delays cost more both financially and in the wellbeing of our patients.”

Ann Garraghy, from the royal college, told the committee that a survey of members revealed 53% of Northern Ireland surgeons had considered leaving the workforce within the last year.

She said 91% surgeons aged 55-64 in the region say they plan to retire within the next four years and 66% have reported burnout and stress because of workload.

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said there was a deepening crisis in the health service in Northern Ireland.

He said: “Surgeons are clear that we need more elective care centres and access to theatres for staff.

“They have also issued a workforce warning with large numbers of the surgical cohort in the later stages of their careers and will retire in the coming decade.

“If we don’t recruit and retain the surgeons necessary then we will be unable to manage the scale of these waiting lists.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said the department “and wider health and social care system is acutely aware that NI’s waiting lists are too long and present the risk of real harm to patients, as well as moral distress for staff.”

She said: "The Elective Care Framework sets out firm, time bound proposals for how the department is going to systemically tackle the backlog of patients. Huge efforts are being made across the entire system to maximise the current resource available.

"This has resulted in treatment waiting times reducing in six consecutive quarters. This is the longest sustained reduction since at least 2008, although we do not underestimate the wider scale of the crisis”.

The spokeswoman added: “The department is now entering its third financial year with a budget shortfall.

"The cumulative impact of the financial squeeze will mean we cannot deliver the service we want, and demand will continue to outstrip capacity. But every opportunity is being pursued, including some of the innovative approaches that have been announced in recent weeks.

“The department has been clear on what needs to be done to address the waiting list challenge. It is a combination of steps to stabilise and grow the primary and social care sectors to enable the acute sector to work more efficiently, sustained funding to enable the training of health care professionals and a relentless focus on delivery.

"In the short term we also need an additional upfront investment to address the chronic waiting lists we have and remove pressure from the system.”