Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 46551/22-27, (i) whether any assessment has been made of the reasons for the variations, by Health and Social Care Trust, in the number of patients waiting for more than 28 days for a suspected cancer diagnostic test; and (ii) to detail any steps he is taking to address these variations. [Priority Written]
Minister of Health: My Department routinely assesses waiting list volumes across all urgency categories as part of established monitoring processes. The number of patients waiting, particularly suspect cancer patients, can fluctuate based on increases or decreases in referral demand and available capacity within Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts at any given time.
AQW 46551/22-27 provided a snapshot of patients who were actively waiting over 28 days for a diagnostic test related to cancer at 31 March 2026. The table below compares this position to a further snapshot at 11 June 2026. For the purposes of this information, a diagnostic test is defined as an imaging or gastro-intestinal endoscopy procedure.
| HSC Trust | Patients waiting over 28 days at 31 March 2026 | Patients waiting over 28 days at 11 June 2026 |
| Belfast | 162 | 49 |
| Northern | 273 | 247 |
| South Eastern | 636 | 284 |
| Southern | 293 | 175 |
| Western | 88 | 97 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,452 | 852 |
Between 31 March 2026 and 11 June 2026, there has been a reduction of 41% in the number of patients waiting over 28 days, alongside a reduction in variation at HSC Trust level.
While some Trusts appear to have higher numbers waiting, this is due in part to regional capacity delivered within specific Trust areas. For endoscopy, regional endoscopy centres within South Eastern and Western Trusts treat suspect cancer patients from all Trusts, with capacity allocated based on regional red flag waiting times to ensure equalisation of waits across Trusts. For imaging, Rapid Diagnosis Centres in both the Northern and Southern Trusts provide regional cancer imaging and are helping to reduce regional variation on a number of cancer pathways. While patients await their procedure, they are recorded as waiting at the Trust which hosts the regional capacity.
My Department is committed to reducing waiting times for patients who require cancer and time critical diagnostic tests. As part of the Elective Care Framework: Implementation and Funding Plan, £13m is being invested in endoscopy services and a further £12m in diagnostic imaging. This funding will deliver approximately 16,500 endoscopy procedures and 7,800 imaging sessions per year when fully implemented.
ENDS
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