Health Minister Robin Swann has welcomed June monitoring round allocations of funding for the health service.
Mr Swann was speaking after the allocations were announced by Finance Minister Conor Murphy. These include £31.5m for alleviating waiting lists and £17.7m for pharmaceutical pressures.
The Health Minister stated: “The additional waiting list monies will be targeted at long waits for treatment and care – including in the areas of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and psychological therapies.
“This will be in addition to our ongoing investment in elective care for the highest priority cases in terms of clinical need.
“While additional one-off allocations will always be welcome, a long-term solution to waiting lists requires sustained and guaranteed funding over a number of years.
“The Finance Minister and I are in full agreement on the need for multi-year budgets.”
The June 2021 monitoring round allocations for Health also include: £4.5m for Muckamore Abbey Hospital support costs including funding for the alternative location of patients who might previously have been treated at Muckamore; £1m for cyber security; and £11.5m capital funding.