Substantially more cash - upwards of £800m - needs to be injected into the health service.

Citing higher mortality rates and lower recovery rates and longer waiting times for hospital admissions here when compared to England, it has been claimed that, in terms of access to hospital, primary and community services, Northern Ireland lags far behind.

Things are said to be so bad that the service needs at least £800m over the next three years just to make it ‘fit for purpose’.

According to Colm Donaghy, chief executive of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust: "Investment here needs to at least match if not exceed the levels in the rest of the UK.

"We are playing catch-up with England. If our funding here had matched their levels of investment over the past three years we would have been up to £400m better off.

Speaking on behalf of the five new health trusts, formed as the result of the Review of Public Administration, Mr Donaghy warned that if cash wasn't found soon simply to bring our services up to the same level as the rest of the UK, "standards will continue to fall behind".

"People in Northern Ireland deserve the same standard of service as people in England. I am calling on the Executive to allocate a higher level of resources to bring our services up to the same level as the rest of the UK, otherwise our standards will continue to fall behind."

The chief executives' call follows the Chancellor's announcement of a 4% above inflation increase in funding for the NHS in England.

"We fear that Northern Ireland is set to receive a much lower increase and that patients here could receive £800m less than patients in England over the next three years," he said.

"Our concern is that the outcome of Comprehensive Spending Review might not give the same priority to health and social care in Northern Ireland as the chancellor has given in England."

(BMcC)