Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has today announced a series of measures aimed at tackling Northern Ireland's extensive hospital waiting lists, including a new Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme.

An initial £10 million will be invested in this scheme, which will allow eligible patients to claim back costs for treatments received outside Northern Ireland. Commencing in June 2025, the scheme will initially apply to procedures obtained in the Republic of Ireland and will later be extended to the rest of the European Union. It will be available to patients who have been on a hospital treatment waiting list in Northern Ireland for two years or more, and will require prior approval from the Department of Health.

This reimbursement scheme is part of a broader package of initiatives for the upcoming year designed to alleviate pressure on the health service. Other key measures include:

• Targeting the longest waits: Focusing on patients waiting four years or more for treatments such as hip and knee replacements, other orthopaedic procedures, tonsillectomies, hernia repairs, gallbladder removal, and colonoscopies.

• Reducing waits for specialist procedures: Significantly cutting waiting lists for children needing specialist interventions like peg tubes, scopes, and scoliosis surgery, as well as for women awaiting gynaecology mesh removal.

• Independent sector partnerships: Collaborating with private providers to clear outpatient waiting lists of four years or more in specialities including Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Gynaecology, and ENT.

• Mega clinics: Investing £10 million in "mega clinics" designed to provide a 'one-stop shop' for an estimated 20,000 additional patients, potentially covering surgical reviews and anaesthetic pre-operative assessments in a single visit. • Expanding critical capacity: Increasing capacity for red flag and time-critical services across various areas such as Endoscopy, Diagnostic Imaging (MRI and CT), Urology, Breast Surgery, Dermatology, Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy, and Cardiac Surgery.

• Boosting Primary Care Elective Services: An estimated £2.9 million investment to enable approximately 16,500 additional patients to be seen and treated in dermatology, minor surgery, and gynaecology within primary care settings in 2025/26.

• Voluntary sector collaboration: Launching a £500,000 per year "Waiting Well Programme" to support those awaiting treatment, and a £1 million per year Cancer Charities Programme to deliver community-based cancer services, reducing pressure on statutory services.

The Health Minister stated: "These planned investments reflect the Executive’s ringfencing of up to £215m in this year’s Health budget for waiting list activities – in line with the finalised Programme for Government."

He detailed the allocation: "This breaks down into £85m for red flag and time critical care; £80m for building up capacity to address the long-standing mismatch with demand; and up to £50m to start tackling the backlog in care."

However, Mr Nesbitt cautioned, "Investment at this level will need to be sustained for at least five years to bring hospital waiting times down to acceptable levels. We are only at the foothills of what will be a long uphill trek. I will provide more details on the different initiatives later this month with publication of an implementation plan for my Department’s Elective Care Framework."

The Minister also highlighted the financial realities behind the announcement: "Only £50m of the ringfenced £215m total has involved additional monies for my Department. The initiatives being announced today are in large part being funded by monies diverted from my core budget for day to day services. That will have unavoidable consequences for wider health and social care provision."

He added: "In the coming weeks, my Department will publish detailed plans and assessments on the financial pressures this year and the measures that will be needed in both the short and medium terms."