Ulster Unionist Health Spokesperson Roy Beggs MLA said:
“These comments from Richard Pengelly only confirm what patients and staff have already known for some time.
“Our health service is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis and tragically it has been going on for so long that patients have been coming to harm as a result of delays in diagnosis and treatment.
“I have repeatedly warned over recent years that our local health service has neither the capacity nor resources to meet the rising demand. Whilst aspects of the local system do need reform, until the fundamental issues of tackling the shrinking number of hospital beds and filling the thousands of vacant staff posts are resolved then our already appalling waiting lists will only continue to get worse. Transforming some services alone will not resolve the problems.
“The abhorrent absence of any Ministerial leadership from January 2017 has also greatly compounded the situation. Our health service urgently requires additional resources and new strategic leadership if it is to continue to deliver increasingly complex care."
