The Health Minister, Ms Bairbre de Brun, has pledged to deal with rising hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland which are the longest in the UK, according to British government figures published yesterday.
More than 47,000 people were waiting for in-patient treatment at the end of March, which Ms de Brun described as "concerning". Almost 5,300 patients were categorised as "excess waiters" - people who had been waiting for 18 months or longer for admission to hospital.
"Clearly the pressures created by the problems last winter had an impact on the numbers, as many operations and procedures had to be postponed. We must now work to improve the position and I am committed to addressing this issue and bringing waiting lists down," she said.
A DUP MLA, Mr Paul Berry, accused Ms de Brun of hypocrisy, saying Sinn Fein and their "cohorts" were responsible for much of the destruction and economic damage inflicted on Northern Ireland over the past 30 years, which had left the health service chronically underfunded.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, has held talks with Belfast City Council on the future of Harland & Wolff following a meeting with its chief executive, Mr Brynjulv Mugaas. Sir Reg pledged his department's full commitment to the shipyard, saying he would do everything he could to help it win new contracts and safeguard employment.
