Skip to content

People 'will suffer' under new waiting list scheme, doctor warns

Getty Images Nurse in blue scrubs wearing a black stethoscope, her face is cropped out of the photo. She is holding a clipboard writing with a silver pen. The background is blurred around her. Getty Images
From next month, patients will be reimbursed the amount of money the operation would have cost in Northern Ireland, subject to approval

Patients who cannot afford to pay for medical procedures upfront are going to suffer under a new reimbursement scheme, a senior medic has said.

The scheme was announced on Tuesday as part of a £215M plan outlined by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to tackle spiralling hospital waiting lists.

From next month, patients waiting more than two years for an operation will be able to claim back money if they pay for a procedure in the Republic of Ireland.

But the deputy chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, Dr Clodagh Corrigan, said that is going to make current problems worse.

"We know there is an enormous gap in health access and in poverty in Northern Ireland," she told BBC's Sunday Politics programme.

"If we are now in a position where we are providing a better health service to those who can afford it, we are going to see that disparity become even greater and people who cannot afford to pay for their healthcare upfront really suffering."

Dr Clodagh Corrigan is sitting down at a table in front of a backdrop depicting a lake. She has long brown hair. She is wearing a dark blue blazer, a white top and a small pin on her lapel.
Dr Clodagh Corrigan said health care disparity will become even greater under a new reimbursement scheme announced on Tuesday

Full details of the plan have yet to be outlined and the full range of eligible procedures covered by the cross-border scheme are not yet known.

The Department of Health said patients would require prior approval before accessing the scheme.

Other measures include using NI's private healthcare providers to target anyone waiting longer than four years on a hip or knee replacement, colonoscopy, hernia or gallbladder surgery.

'What are we going to lose?

Nesbitt said initially £10m will be invested in the waiting list reimbursement scheme, which will begin in June 2025.

Dr Corrigan also questioned where Nesbitt will find the money that is needed.

"We are already in a situation in our health service where we are being propped up by staff good will, by and large," she said.

"They money has to be saved from somewhere so what are we going to lose and what services are we going to have to cut?

"How much worse is the care that we are providing our patients on a day to day basis going to have to get to fund these savings that the minister is looking for to invest in the waiting lists?"

'Two-tier system'

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister is sitting down at a table in front of a backdrop depicting a lake. She has long brown hair and is wearing a dress with sleeves, covered in pink and red flowers. She is smiling at the camera.
Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said other options may need to be looked at to relieve pressure on the NHS

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said Northern Ireland is now "lawing in the phase of a two-tier health system".

"There has to be some equity in [the health service] if it is going to relieve the pressure elsewhere.

"If it is not going to relieve the pressure then we need to look again at other options.

"We need to use all levers and that is just the reality of it."

Following the announcement, the People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the reimbursement scheme was "nothing more than stealth privatisation".

"The for-profit healthcare sector has the Department over a barrel," he said in a statement.

"The more the Minister depends on private healthcare to solve this crisis, the weaker our NHS becomes."