Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health (i) whether any recent assessment has been made of accessibility to mental health services; and (ii) to detail the average waiting times for assessment and treatment, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.
Minister of Health: Article 10A of the Health and Social Care Act (NI) 2022 provides for Health and Social Care Trusts to be directly responsible for social care and children’s functions, under Directed Statutory Functions by the Department of Health. My Department has responsibility for the professional oversight, governance, performance management and accountability of Trusts under the Statutory Functions framework and waiting times for access to mental health services would be monitored within this context.
Health and Social Care Trusts also have robust governance arrangements in place to monitor the extent to which mental health services meet expected standards. Clinical governance frameworks are in place within each Trust ensuring that performance is monitored at corporate, divisional, and team levels, with Trust Boards being sighted on areas of risk and under performance accordingly.
Collectively, these arrangements ensure ongoing oversight of service delivery and support continuous improvement in access, safety, and quality of care.
| Adult Mental Health Outpatient Waiting Times by HSC Trust and time waiting as at 31st May 2026. | ||||
| HSC Trust | > 9 weeks | > 26 weeks | > 52 weeks | Total Waiting |
| Belfast | ||||
| Northern | 41 | 7 | 0 | 777 |
| South Eastern | 600 | 309 | 20 | 1567 |
| Southern | 417 | 36 | 0 | 942 |
| Western | 90 | 17 | 6 | 607 |
Source: HSC Trust Returns to SPPG Business Analytics Team
Please note the following.
- The information above relates to active waits at each month end position.
- As part of the encompass roll-out, all Trusts have now gone live with a new electronic patient record system. As these Trusts continue to transition to completely digitised records, their data is undergoing extensive validation. Until this process is complete, there may be gaps in the data they are able to submit for reporting purposes, and the information supplied in this response may be subject to change.
- The information above is management information only, and not for publication.
4.Belfast HSC Trust data is undergoing extensive validation and is excluded from the information presented above.
ENDS
Your MLA 