AQO 980/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 03/10/2024
Answered On Date: 15/10/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health for an update on plans to address the waiting list for paediatric percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes surgery.

Answer:

From the outset, let me assure the Member and the parents of these young people that I fully appreciate the pressure that delays are causing.

This procedure is complex and it requires specialised clinical and nursing input prior to, during and post procedure.

There are 83 children currently on the waiting list with the longest wait over three years.

The Trust is currently examining every means to address this issue and it is hoped that this can assisted with additional measures being put in place from this month.

For example, at the moment a paediatric surgeon is validating the list so waiting times and numbers on the list may change dependent on the clinical priority.

This validation process will identity which children are suitable for possible transfer to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool for the procedure. Clinical criteria, agreed by the specialist team, will be in place to determine this. Once the initial scoping is done the parents of the eligible children for potential transfer to Liverpool will be contacted about the procedure.

Belfast Trust are also hoping to provide a waiting list initiative in the coming weeks, to carry out additional sessions this month. As well as this, discussions are underway to provide the Belfast Trust paediatric surgeon a gastrostomy surgery list in the Ulster Hospital. Belfast Trust Gastrostomy Specialist Nurses will provide training to staff in South Eastern Trust to help facilitate this if it can be actioned.

There is also a review underway of work performed in RBHSC and in District General Hospitals to ascertain what work could be redirected to District General Hospitals. This may free up further capacity in RBHSC for Paediatric Surgeons to perform more gastrostomy surgery and other more complex surgery that can only be carried out in RBHSC.