DUP pledges £250m to transform health

Gary Middleton, the party’s candidate for Foyle, said the health service in Northern Ireland requires fundamental change to make it fit for the 21st century.

Mr Middleton said the DUP’s five-point plan for the Province includes a promise of extra cash allocated to changing the NHS in Northern Ireland.

He said: “We are proposing to extend the Transformation Fund which originated from the DUP confidence and supply agreement, and allocate it a further one quarter of a billion pounds over the course of the next Assembly term.

“Our NHS was designed in a different era and we need a model today fit for the challenges of the 21st century. Frontline professionals see at first hand the need to do things differently, and they should be empowered to lead the change.

“We must do things differently. We need a population model that focuses on prediction and prevention rather than reaction, with patients active participants in their care, and technology fully embraced across a genuinely integrated system.”

Mr Middleton added: “Much of the care in Northern Ireland is outstanding. We have a hugely skilled and dedicated workforce. With strong and effective leadership a fundamentally improved system is within our grasp.”

Meanwhile, the Alliance Party has said more support is needed for the ambulance service following the death of a Newry woman while waiting for paramedics to arrive from Belfast.

Jody Keenan collapsed in the border city but with only three local ambulance crews available, paramedics were sent from Belfast but the woman died by the time they had arrived.

Alliance Newry and Armagh candidate Jackie Coade said: “Nobody deserves to die on the street while waiting for the healthcare they need and deserve as standard. Due to increasing pressures, many people now only have the option to have someone else transport them to hospital or in an emergency situation, wait however long it takes, which can lead to tragic consequences seen this past weekend. It is disgraceful the focus is only now being put on the ambulance service.”

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