AQW 32591/22-27

Mr Danny Donnelly
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 02/10/2025
Answered On Date: 17/10/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail how his Department assesses the number of excess deaths caused by excessive waits in Emergency Departments.

Answer:

My Department does not hold specific data on the number of excess deaths directly attributable to excessive waits in emergency departments (EDs) during the periods in question. Determining causality in such cases is complex and not possible due to limitations in current data collection systems. However, I recognise the serious concerns raised by prolonged waiting times and continue to work with Trusts and community services to implement a range of actions aimed at improving patient flow and reducing delays.

To help alleviate pressures in EDs, my Department has implemented a range of targeted initiatives. These include the expansion of Urgent Care Centres, Phone First Services and Minor Injury Units, offering patients timely alternatives to ED attendance.

Ahead of the coming winter, the department has worked with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the Trusts to ensure that an additional 18 emergency medicine consultants have been appointed to work in EDs across Northern Ireland. A further ten consultants are expected to complete their training by December 2025, and it is anticipated that they will also be recruited locally to provide further resilience and senior decision-making capacity to our EDs this winter.

In 2025/26, I am determined to find better ways to work as a system to tackle waiting times in EDs. That is why I initiated a series of winter planning workshops to identify solutions to the system flow issues that we collectively face. The workshops saw attendance from HSC leaders across the system, including Royal Colleges, clinicians, and other frontline services.

I hope to publish my Winter Preparedness Plan in the coming weeks that will aim to see improved outcomes before the next winter. The plan will identify other steps that my Department and key partners are taking to help manage pressures.

Ultimately, all of these measures are aimed at improving flow throughout the hospital, reducing congestion in our EDs and improving waiting times.

These efforts are part of a broader system-wide approach to ensure patients receive timely, safe, and effective care, both within EDs and across the wider health and social care system.