Health Minister Robin Swann says he needs £661m

The health minister says he needs more than £660m to maintain existing services and meet commitments made in the deal which restored devolution.

Robin Swann, who has held the post for a month, set out the extent of the funding pressures on Tuesday.

He said his ability to start cutting waiting lists and tackle other serious problems depends on the budget his department receives next month.

The funding requirement includes commitments on pay parity and staffing.

"I appreciate that some £492m to maintain existing services and a further £169m to meet 'New Decade, New Approach' commitments is a significant ask," he said.

An increase of nearly £500m is being sought "just to meet the inescapable costs of maintaining existing service levels with no growth in Transformation and meet the Agenda for Change pay award".

He said that simply maintaining the status quo would mean "another year of frustration and falling short of public expectations".

"In terms of waiting lists, it would allow a focus on red flag and urgent cases such as suspected cancer but overall the current totally unacceptable waiting list position would be unlikely to improve."

Mr Swann acknowledged that the 'New Decade, New Approach' document had raised expectations.

"To deliver the health and social care commitments in the document would require a projected further £169m.

"It covers, for example, vital funding for enhancing and reforming social care, growing the social care workforce and improving its pay levels.

"In terms of hospital waiting lists, 'New Decade, New Approach' states that no-one waiting over a year at 30 September 2019 for outpatient or inpatient assessment/treatment will still be on a waiting list by March 2021.

"This commitment alone will cost in the region of £50m. It should be seen as a first step in dealing with the waiting list crisis. To get to a more sustainable position will need sustained additional investment over future years to not only deal with backlogs but bring about much needed change."

Mr Swann said he accepted other departments are under financial pressure.

"I very much welcome the priority attached to health by executive colleagues both in public and in private.

"We are all facing up to the scale of the challenges in our departments. I certainly owe it to patients and their families to be frank with them. My ability to start reducing waiting times and improve other struggling services will be heavily dependent on the budget allocation received by my department next month."