Surgeons welcome Audit Office’s report on tackling waiting lists

Mr Niall McGonigle, Northern Ireland Director of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, has welcomed a new report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office on waiting lists, published today (10 October 2023).

Responding to the report from Northern Ireland’s Comptroller and Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, Mr McGonigle said:

“This report is stark, stating that unless shorter waiting lists are achieved, the HSC could be at breaking point. Similar to the NI Public Service Ombudsman’s report last year, the Audit Office report sets milestones for the health service and rings out the alarm on the scale of our unacceptable waiting lists.

“We support the report’s nine key recommendations and call on the Department of Health, and connected political stakeholders, to consider implementation of these points wholesale and with immediate effect. Waiting lists in Northern Ireland have been risen dramatically year on year, and until we see a fully funded plan in place, more patients will continue to suffer and wait longer times for care to start.

“Today’s report reinforces many of the Royal College of Surgeon’s views, in particular that we need ring-fenced and recurrent investment, more surgical hubs, and transparency of our systems. It also highlights our view that surgeons need more time in theatres to do what they do best – to deliver lifesaving and changing surgery. 

“Worryingly, the report shows that in 2013/4 health trusts in NI delivered 133,000 operating theatre procedures - by 2019 that figure fell to 111,000 and then to 60,000 during 2020-21. The figure went up to 98,000 in 2022 but this remains well below pre-pandemic levels. There is no doubt many factors are at play and not least that long elective waiting times are resulting in more complex surgery, meaning fewer patients are being treated.

“Above all this report signals the need for a strong and motivated workforce. High sickness rates coupled with retirement or retention issues, means NI’s health service is operating in dire straits.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The Northern Ireland Audit Office report Tackling Waiting Lists will be published on Tuesday 10 October here: www.niauditoffice.gov.uk.
2. The report shows the proportion of people not admitted to hospital within 52 weeks by key specialism from March 2018 to March 2023: ENT (69.8%), General Surgery (57.9%), Trauma and Orthopaedics (61.8%) and Urology (48.3%).
3. On page 46 it states: “Unless significantly shorter waiting times are achieved, growing numbers of patients will inevitably continue developing advanced conditions and suffer detrimental impacts, and the extent of health inequalities is also likely to widen. This will place the HSC sector under even greater operational pressure, potentially bringing it close to breaking point, and means it will ultimately incur higher costs through having to treat more complex illnesses.”
4. The Royal College of Surgeons of England is a professional membership organisation and is represented in Northern Ireland by a Professional Board of over 20 surgeons reflecting the specialty areas of: Neurosurgery, ENT, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Plastics, Urology, Vascular, Cardiothoracic and OMFS.
5. The Board includes 10 elected regional specialty advisors, Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT), QUB & UU Medical School Surgical Societies, NIMDTA Head of the School of Surgery, SAS doctors and an RCS England Council member. The purpose of the Board is to improve surgical outcomes for patients, advocate locally and support the dissemination of good practice and professional guidance.
6. Recent NI College publications include surgical manifesto for the NI 2022 assembly elections and the Action Plan for the Recovery of Elective Surgery 10 Steps Not 10 Years.
7. For more information about RCS England, please contact pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk.