20/04/2026
Alliance MLA Warns 'Snail's Pace' Health Reform is Costing Lives
Alliance Health spokesperson Danny Donnelly MLA has claimed that patients in Northern Ireland are losing their lives needlessly due to the slow rate of reform within the health system.
The East Antrim MLA was responding to a new report from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which indicated that there were more than 1,000 excess deaths in Northern Ireland during 2025 linked to prolonged waiting times in Emergency Departments (EDs). According to the report, this figure has more than doubled over the last five years.
Mr Donnelly criticised the Health Minister for the speed of transformation, stating that the current situation has led to "corridor care" becoming a standard occurrence. He called for better integration between emergency, community, and social care to improve patient discharge rates and increase hospital capacity.
Danny Donnelly MLA said: "These shocking statistics underline yet again that the failure to transform Northern Ireland's health system isn't some abstract debate for politicians – it is costing people their lives.
"Last year, we had the equivalent of close to 20 deaths each week in our Emergency Departments because of the unacceptable length of time people were waiting for care. That is 20 families left devastated and grieving the loss of their loved ones because the Health Minister has presided over health reform at a snail's pace while services deteriorate around him.
"ED doctors are right to describe the current situation as a catastrophe. With the size of the Department's budget each year, it is simply unacceptable that corridor care has been allowed to become the norm, and patients and bereaved families are demanding answers from the Minister on his plan to reverse that trend.
"We need joined-up working between emergency, community and social care so that medically fit patients can be discharged from hospital and capacity freed up for new ones coming in. The solutions are on the table, and the Minister must be held accountable for delivering them before any more lives are needlessly lost due to overcrowding in our Emergency Departments."
The East Antrim MLA was responding to a new report from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which indicated that there were more than 1,000 excess deaths in Northern Ireland during 2025 linked to prolonged waiting times in Emergency Departments (EDs). According to the report, this figure has more than doubled over the last five years.
Mr Donnelly criticised the Health Minister for the speed of transformation, stating that the current situation has led to "corridor care" becoming a standard occurrence. He called for better integration between emergency, community, and social care to improve patient discharge rates and increase hospital capacity.
"Last year, we had the equivalent of close to 20 deaths each week in our Emergency Departments because of the unacceptable length of time people were waiting for care. That is 20 families left devastated and grieving the loss of their loved ones because the Health Minister has presided over health reform at a snail's pace while services deteriorate around him.
"ED doctors are right to describe the current situation as a catastrophe. With the size of the Department's budget each year, it is simply unacceptable that corridor care has been allowed to become the norm, and patients and bereaved families are demanding answers from the Minister on his plan to reverse that trend.
"We need joined-up working between emergency, community and social care so that medically fit patients can be discharged from hospital and capacity freed up for new ones coming in. The solutions are on the table, and the Minister must be held accountable for delivering them before any more lives are needlessly lost due to overcrowding in our Emergency Departments."
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:The day will begin dry with bright or sunny spells. Scattered showers will spread east from mid morning but will begin to clear as cloud increases towards the evening. Maximum temperature 15 °C.Tonight:The evening will be cloudy with a few showers, these mostly in the west. Outbreaks of rain soon spread north becoming widespread and heavy from around midnight. Minimum temperature 10 °C.