DUP's Diane Dodds queries surgery disparities across Northern Ireland's health trusts

The Upper Bann MLA highlighted figures provided by the Health Minister which show that the Belfast and Northern health trust’s surgeons were in theatre for 30% of the week while for the Southern and South Eastern trusts the figure was only 20%.

“I appreciate that each surgeon has a personalised job plan, and factors such as their specific surgical sub-specialty, the procedures they perform, and the number of funded theatre sessions could all have a bearing. I also realise that theatre is only an element of a surgeon’s weekly workload as well as being on the ward and outpatient clinics.

“Sufficient access to theatre slots is an important issue, which I know has been raised at the Health Committee by the Royal College of Surgeons, and there will be many surgeons who would prefer to be operating more. The fewer theatre sessions that there are, the slower we will be making progress on waiting times.

“In seeking to maximise efficiency across our health service we want health professionals to be working at the upper end of their skill set, regularly performing the procedures they have been highly trained for many years to do”, she said.

Mrs Dodds questioned why if 30% theatre time can be achieved in two trusts, it can’t that be done elsewhere- and said she would pursue the issue with senior officials.

A department of health spokesperson said surgeons’ time is “divided between different activities including operating theatres, outpatient sessions, ward rounds, multi-disciplinary meetings and on call sessions.

“The time individual surgeons spend in operating theatres will be related to a number of factors including the consultant’s surgical area, the types of surgery provided at the hospital they are working in, and funded theatre sessions available to the consultant”.

They said trusts “continue to work to maximise theatre utilisation and ensure capacity is being used efficiently”.