Our NHS: long waits, overflowing emergency departments, and privatisation
The fact that hospitals across Northern Ireland are full of patients waiting for days on end for treatment should be a wake-up call for those who fear that we're moving away from the core values of the National Health service.
According to an overview from the British Medical Association (BMA), “pressures on emergency care in Northern Ireland are rising”. Waiting times at A&E have progressively increased since the pandemic, leading to a higher proportion of people now waiting over 12 hours.
In March 2025 about 67,871 people attended A&E departments in Northern Ireland. 43% of those patients were seen in under 4 hours, which the BMA describes as “a major decline against the 91% seen within 4 hours in April 2008, when this data collection began”.
Approximately 19% of patients waited over 12 hours for an emergency admission in March 2025 compared to the 4% in March 2019, before the pandemic began. BMA statistics show a similar decline in provision in terms of hospital waiting lists, number of days people have to wait for treatment following an urgent GP referral, and almost every other indicator.
For far too long the health minister and department have been fixating on privatisation and fragmentation instead of looking at how to implement a change of culture.
One woman waiting for two weeks to be treated in the Ulster Hospital emergency ward is outrageous, dangerous, and a sad reminder of the massive staff shortages that have not been addressed in any meaningful way. The approach taken by those charged with managing our healthcare system, is akin to moving deck chairs on the Titanic. Financial and human resources are being squandered with constant plans to reconfigure and restructure services.
There is plenty of research that confirms that because of the rush to privatisation patients may have died. Sadly, the sick the elderly and the poor are paying the price with shortages of beds and staff, which have been created by design not by accident. Wes Streeting the current Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is very keen to step up the pace of healthcare privatisation.
Meanwhile, the ambulance service has been forced to treat people in the back of ambulances and in corridors.
The Workers Party has been calling for an open and transparent debate which does not allow those with vested interests inside and outside the service to make the decisions that suit their own agendas.
Health inequalities are growing because of poverty and multiple deprivations. Poor housing, lack of sustainable well paid employment, are all aggravating factors within many areas of Northern Ireland.
The Workers Party believes that three hospitals across Northern Ireland, having patients waiting for hundreds of hours, should be a wake-up call for those who see moving away from the core values of the National Health service.
We need a health service that puts the needs of patients and quality clinical outcomes first.