AQW 30711/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 09/09/2025
Answered On Date: 24/09/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail any urgent measures being taken to increase dermatology capacity to meet the two-week cancer referral standard.

Answer:

The Department of Health recognises the pressures upon services across the HSC and the impact this can have on patients.

In response to ongoing Dermatology pressures, the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) established a Regional Dermatology Forum to consider issues such as waiting times, addressing increases in red flag referrals, enhanced triage and time between referral and first appointment. This group is also considering the current funded capacity within dermatology, challenges in workforce and alternative pathways to address shortfalls in clinical manpower, and potential ways to increase the capacity available in each Trust.

Reducing waiting times is a priority across both the Department and HSC Trusts, but solving this challenge will require long term sustained collaboration across our entire healthcare system. With the significant financial constraints our health service is currently facing, it is important to acknowledge that there are challenges in what we can do to increase capacity in the immediate future.

Trusts are continuing to seek alternative ways to provide outpatient consultations to help reduce waiting times, through initiatives such as virtual or telephone appointments that provide advice and guidance. The Trusts are also seeking to implement a ‘Patient initiated follow up’ (PIFU) service and enhanced triage clinics, to further reform the outpatient service.

Dermatology Services will also benefit from the package of measures currently being taken forward by Trusts to address long waiting patients through the expansion of elective services in primary care, investment in waiting list mega clinics, additional waiting list clinics and the new Waiting List Reduction Reimbursement Scheme.