Robin Swann as health minister must work to improve the rate which patients can be seen by NHS consultants

I commend the work of this publication in revealing the scale of Northern Ireland’s health crisis, with the publishing of waiting list figures (‘Leaked NHS data reveals patients waiting five years to be seen and urgent cancer delays,’ February 5).

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Feb 2020, 00:51 BST

Updated 11th Feb 2020, 01:01 BST

Patients cannot continue to accept a system which may never see their condition treated.

Robin Swann faces a nightmarish start to the beginning of his tenure as health minister, but he must work quickly and efficiently to improve the rate which patients can be seen by consultants, especially on suspected cancer referral pathways.

Mr Swann must engage directly with consultants of the worst affected specialities, which from the figures obtained appear to be dermatology, colorectal surgery and orthopaedics.

The key to the solution is local, where only those on the frontline know the specific resources required to save lives jeopardised by delays in assessment of suspected cancer.

Ian Donnell, Final year medical student, University of Manchester