Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler has claimed that the latest publication of emergency care waiting times provides further evidence of the spiralling crisis engulfing the NHS in Northern Ireland.
Robbie Butler said:
“We are in an unprecedented situation. Never before in the 70-year history of the NHS have things been so precarious. With every passing month our waiting times, across almost every single speciality and patient type, are getting worse and there is no realistic prospect of any improvement.
“Even though the target is to treat, admit or discharge 95% of patients attending our major emergency departments within 4 hours, last year we only managed this in 68.7% of cases. Similarly, the number of people waiting longer than 12 hours more than doubled to over 17,000.
“The latest number of people cruelly having to wait longer than a year for even their first appointment with a consultant is 83,000.
“The number of ambulances arriving on time in the most urgent cases is continuing to spiral year after year with only 41.9% of Category A cases – those considered the most life-threatening – arriving within the primary target of 8 minutes, last year. As a former firefighter I know exactly how important it is for emergency vehicles and personnel to arrive at a scene as quickly as possible.
“There are only so many times we can express concern and deepening horror at the deteriorating state of affairs. The reality is that in 2018, despite our advances in medical care, patients in Northern Ireland are coming to harm as a result of avoidable delays in receiving treatment.
“Doctors are warning that patients are dying in England because their performance has dipped in recent times, so I am frightened to think what those same doctors would say about the situation here.
“The waiting time we have here just simply wouldn’t be tolerated in England.
“Yet, in the total absence of a Minister and the Assembly Health Committee, the Health Department is simply carrying on like business as usual. If this were England, heads would have rolled and remedial measures would have been taken long, long ago. Why should the people of Northern Ireland be expected to put up with a failing system like this? It simply isn’t good enough.”
