Patient safety

RCS responds to Nuffield Trust report on Northern Ireland

Mark Jones, vice chair of the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s (RCS) Northern Ireland board, praised the valiant work of health and social care staff but repeated serious concerns over strain on healthcare services in Northern Ireland.

Mr Jones was responding to the recently-released Nuffield Trust report, Change or collapse: Lessons from the drive to reform health and social care in Northern Ireland.

He explained: “The Nuffield Trust’s report echoes many of the concerns the RCS has raised about the impact the political stalemate in Northern Ireland is having on the health and social care system.

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"In terms of patients waiting for treatment, according to the report, in early 2019, the list of people waiting over one year in England was equivalent to one person in 48,524.

“In Northern Ireland, it was equivalent to one person in 16. This situation is quite shocking and completely unacceptable.

"Although health and social care staff continue to work valiantly in the face of challenges, there are serious concerns over the growing gap between patient demand and the capacity of our health system to meet that demand in the current political environment in Northern Ireland."