8 October 2025
SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA has expressed alarm at a new Audit Office report revealing that almost £22 million was spent by Health Trusts last year on procedures that were meant to be restricted or not carried out at all under the Department of Health’s Effective Use of Resources policy.
South Down MLA Colin McGrath said:
“This report is staggering. It shows that thousands of procedures costing tens of millions of pounds were carried out with no effective monitoring or assurance from the Department or the Health Trusts. When health budgets are stretched to the limit, this is a completely unacceptable use of scarce resources.
“Patients are waiting months and years for vital operations while money is being spent on procedures that are supposed to be restricted. While I am in no doubt some of the procedures were necessary, the fact that a process that does not monitor their use seems unusual. That is not just poor administration - it’s a failure of leadership and accountability in our health system.
“The Department’s own Strategic Planning and Performance Group was supposed to oversee this policy, but the Audit Office has confirmed that there was no monitoring framework in place and no record of any compliance checks being carried out. That simply isn’t good enough.
“This is exactly why we need strong Opposition scrutiny at Stormont. I will be calling on the Minister for Health to explain how this happened, what action will now be taken, and how we can ensure that every penny of public health spending actually goes toward improving patient care.”