More funding needed for health service says Mason
South Down Sinn Féin MLA Cathy Mason has called for enhanced funding for the health service in the North.
Just as the new UK Chancellor of the Exchequer settles into his post, there is expected to be a 15% cut in funding of public services as Britain slides into a recession and tries to fill a huge hole in the government’s finances.
Cathy Mason said we need an Executive up and running now to tackle the challenges in the health service by investing an extra £1 billion and delivering a three-year Budget.
In challenging the DUP to “stop sitting on their hands”, she said that they need to help people who are suffering as a result of an Assembly in limbo.
Mason said: “The crises in our Emergency Departments over recent weeks is just the latest symptom of a health service that is under huge pressure.
“People who are suffering on growing hospital waiting lists and those waiting for cancer treatment and other life-saving procedures are crying out for help.
“We need an Executive now to invest in health.
“People waiting over 60 hours in A&E Departments with ambulances lined at the door, shines the light on the need to invest in hospitals such as the Downe Hospital in Downpatrick to see the restoration of our A&E services which would help alleviate pressures.
“Our doctors, nurses and other health workers need immediate support to deal with the challenges facing health and social care.
“It is unacceptable and cruel that the DUP continues to sit on their hands and allow the health service, which they said was a priority for them, to suffer until the Protocol is sorted.
“I am calling on the DUP to form an Executive today, work with the rest of us around the Executive table so that we can invest an extra £1 billion in health to hire more doctors and nurses, tackle chronic waiting lists and secure a three-year Budget now.”
