As part of the review of Northern Ireland’s general surgery, new overnight planned surgery centers will be established.
General surgery refers to a broad-based specialty that focuses on diseases of the digestive system.
The Mater Hospital in Belfast is the first centre to be developed. Additional sites will be added.
The UK has the longest waiting list for Northern Ireland.
More than 350,000 people are still waiting to be seen in Northern Ireland for their first outpatient appointment.
The centres will be able to perform elective or planned surgeries and not emergency or unplanned treatments.
The department stated that the overnight stay centres will be used for complex cases with high volumes and intermediate complexity. These cases require at least one night in hospital.
Patients from all over Northern Ireland will be able to access the Mater site. It is planned to locate another centre in Belfast.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health stated that plans are expected to be published in autumn.
The review also identifies standards that hospitals must meet in order to provide planned and emergency surgery.
Robin Swann, Health Minister, welcomed the new centres and stated that they would be used to guide decisions regarding the reshaping services. He also said that the centers will inform the larger design plan initiative I announced recently for our hospital network.
Swann stated that the argument for reforming general surgical is “unanswerable” because patients are not receiving the best care.
“While our surgeons and other multi-disciplinary teams do an outstanding job, the current arrangements are a disservice to them.”
Reviewers stressed the need for urgent change in light of current issues of sustainability, and keeping up with the advancement of the specialty.
According to the department, there have been major changes in general surgery over two decades. Surgeons now focus more on certain areas like colorectal and upper gastrointestinal surgeries.
It means that larger staffing teams will be required. This can lead to issues in recruitment and increased reliance on staff coverage.
Access to endoscopy and interventional radiology is not available in all hospitals.
Professor Mark Taylor, who was the chair of the review and is a consultant in general surgery and hepatobiliary, expressed hope that the centres would help to expand reforms of the health system.
He stated that “The changing nature and scope of surgical specialty means that delivering emergency general surgeries across smaller sites with lower patient turnover is becoming more difficult in terms of staff recruitment and retention as well as skill mix and maintaining quality care.”
“If we fail to secure change in a planned manner, it will occur anyway in an unplanned-piecemeal fashion as services at a variety of locations struggle to continue.”
