AQW 50072/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 30/06/2026
Answered On Date: 22/07/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 47205/22-27, to detail how Health and Social Care Trusts coordinate to ensure free capacity is filled whenever possible.

Answer:

Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts have well-established administrative processes in place to recycle and maximise spare capacity. This includes offering appointment slots vacated at short notice to other patients to ensure that available capacity is filled.

Imaging services continuously monitor appointment utilisation and take steps to reduce avoidable downtime through the active management of schedules and patient bookings. Trusts also work to optimise the use of existing imaging resources across services to improve patient access and efficiency.