5 February 2026
SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA has said that while minor improvements in the latest emergency care waiting time statistics are welcome, they cannot disguise the ongoing crisis across the health system.
South Down MLA Colin McGrath said:
“The latest Department of Health figures point to stabilisation and marginal improvement, but that does not reflect the reality facing patients and staff on the ground.
“I have been told that at the Ulster Hospital today, emergency care is effectively at a standstill. Patients are facing delays of up to 15 hours outside the emergency department, waiting in ambulances that cannot offload because there is simply nowhere for them to go. At the same time, NIAS call handlers are looking at screens showing 999 calls that have been waiting more than 24 hours for an ambulance response. That is not progress.
“Most people attending Type 1 emergency departments are still waiting well beyond the four-hour target, with one in six waiting more than 12 hours. For those who need to be admitted, spending half a day or more in an emergency department has become normalised. That is the reality patients and their families are living with.
“Staff are doing everything they can in impossible circumstances, assessing patients quickly but unable to move them through a system that is at full capacity. The pressure does not end at the hospital door. It backs up into the ambulance service and leaves people waiting at home in pain, fear and uncertainty. There can be no pats on the back for slight improvements on last year’s figures while dangerous conditions are allowed to become the new normal.
“The Health Minister and his department must stop managing the message and start confronting reality, with urgent action to increase capacity, support staff and restore public confidence in emergency care.”