The Systems Not Structures Report must be implemented "without further delay", DUP Assembly candidate for Foyle Gary Middleton has said.

Stating that the report is the route to a better and sustainable service in Northern Ireland, Mr Middleton called on NI's other parties to "step up to the mark'.

Making the call, he said: "Our local NHS requires fundamental transformation, and until that happens we will continue to hear of unacceptable waits, tragic cases and failings, and a system continuing to deteriorate.

"Rafael Bengoa was appointed, and his review established and initiated, by a DUP Health Minister. His Systems not Structures report needs to be implemented without further delay, and will require other parties stepping up to the mark. The report is the route to a better and sustainable service in Northern Ireland.

"The DUP has a five-point plan to build a better Northern Ireland. We are proposing to extend and expand 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."

Mr Middleton said that things must be done differently and that NI needed a "population model that focuses on prediction and prevention rather than reaction".

He continued: "There is reason for optimism too despite the difficulties and challenges. 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, and as Sir Liam Donaldson has indicated: "the Northern Ireland health and social care service must not be satisfied with good enough..... With everyone working together it could be amongst the best in the world."