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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| 'Money for reducing waiting lists was spent elsewhere' | 'Money for reducing waiting lists was spent elsewhere' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| An Ulster Unionist MLA has said she has figures showing almost £19m of extra health funding earmarked for tackling waiting lists has been spent elsewhere. | An Ulster Unionist MLA has said she has figures showing almost £19m of extra health funding earmarked for tackling waiting lists has been spent elsewhere. |
| The money was part of a £48m funding boost announced in November 2015. | The money was part of a £48m funding boost announced in November 2015. |
| Jo-Anne Dobson told the Assembly much of the money was used to "plug the gap on other pressures in the health service." | |
| She said: "My party warned ... that the trusts were not given enough time to use this money on waiting lists. | |
| "Time and time again cancer waiting times have been raised in this house by successive Ministers." | "Time and time again cancer waiting times have been raised in this house by successive Ministers." |
| She added: "When will these condemnations of the service they are leading be turned into actions?" | She added: "When will these condemnations of the service they are leading be turned into actions?" |
| Debate | |
| Mrs Dobson made her remarks during an assembly debate on cancer services. | |
| However Sinn Féin MLA, Catherine Seeley, said the crisis in cancer waiting times was not unprecedented. | |
| She said: "The trends of increased and sustained demand are due to an aging population and increased referrals which go back for years. | |
| "I would argue this is largely due to increased awareness resulting in early detection and enhanced outcomes," she added. | |
| Ms Seeley accused the opposition of seeming to be keen "to cry from the sidelines". | |
| The former DUP health minister Edwin Poots said he wished the current minister, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill, well in her role, as cancer was too serious an issue for political bickering. | |
| Mr Poots told the assembly that Northern Ireland was achieving the best breast cancer care results in the United Kingdom though it is important that "we still focus on delivering better results." |