To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) how the £5 million allocated to support and expand breast services across Health and Social Care Trusts has been spent; and (ii) what impact it has had on red flag breast cancer waiting times.

(i) On 30 May 2025, the Department of Health published the Elective Care Plan Implementation and Funding Plan for 2025/26, which included £5 million in recurrent funding for breast services under the Elective Care Framework (ECF).

Between period April to July 2025 approximately £300,000 was spent non-recurrently on waiting list initiatives, enabling the assessment and treatment of an additional 541 patients through a combination of inhouse and Independent Sector capacity. Further non-recurrent investment is anticipated in the coming months as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the backlog and improve access to timely care.

The Department of Health (DoH), in collaboration with Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts, is actively progressing a range of strategic solutions to address both immediate pressures and long-term service sustainability. These include drawing on best practice from other jurisdictions, exploring changes to workforce skill mix, and redesigning care pathways to improve efficiency and outcomes.

The development of care pathway solutions and development of detailed business cases is expected to take a further 8–12 months. This timeline reflects the need for robust planning and due diligence. The funding is anticipated to be committed on a recurrent basis, subject to the outcome of this work and agreement on the necessary service reforms and business case approvals.

(ii) To address immediate pressures and maintain service delivery, the Department has implemented a series of coordinated actions:

Prioritisation of red flag referrals within existing core capacity to ensure timely access for the most clinically urgent cases.

Ongoing regional coordination to accelerate delivery of targeted interventions, including WLI Breast Mega Clinics.

Consideration of Independent Sector support to supplement short-term capacity.

The Department remains committed to expanding timely access to breast cancer assessment services. I fully acknowledge the ongoing challenges, particularly the unacceptable waiting times for red flag patients, and the distress this causes across Northern Ireland. These issues stem from a combination of funding shortfalls and missed opportunities for system reform.