AQW 24407/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 13/03/2025
Answered On Date: 31/03/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the average amount paid out through Direct Payments, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.

Answer:

The cost of administering Direct Payments would be a cost to each of the Health and Social Care Trusts and my department would not hold this information.

The amount paid out by each HSC Trust in the last quarter of 2024 is listed on the table below:

TRUST	AMOUNT PAID DURING QUARTER OCT- DEC 2024
BHSCT	£3,312,658.51
NHSCT	£3,492,656.81
SEHSCT	£4,471,473.93
SHSCT	£3,890,005.22
WHSCT	£5,863,182.47
TOTAL	£21,029,976.94

(These amounts include one-off payments which ceased during the quarter)

The total amount paid at quarter end on the 31st December 2023 was £18,511,214.63 and at quarter end on the 31st December 2022 was £16,665,518.64, therefore indicating a rise in the uptake of Direct payments regionally.