To ask the Minister of Health to detail any engagement he has had with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in relation to (i) plans to address the waiting list for paediatric percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube surgery; and (ii) support currently being provided to children and their families on the waiting list.

The issue of access to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) insertion for children and young people is an important issue as is the range of all surgical procedures that face children and young people in Northern Ireland. This procedure is a complex procedure that requires specialised clinical and nursing input prior to, during and post procedure.

My officials within SPPG have now carried out some initial scoping on the question that you have raised with senior officials in BHSCT and have been informed of the following plans to help address this issue.

A Paediatric Surgeon is currently going through an urgent validation of Peg Tube waiting lists. This process will identity which children are suitable for potential transfer to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool for the procedure. BHSCT are carrying out discussions with Alder Hey to ascertain the feasibility of this arrangement. If agreed clinical criteria, agreed by the specialist team, will be in place to determine what children will be transferred.

Belfast Trust is planning to provide a waiting list initiative in October on a Friday, with patients being nursed in RBHSC over the weekend. This will be dependent on theatre and bed resource availability. Gastrostomy surgery is also planned in the Ulster Hospital. Belfast Gastrostomy Nurses will provide training to staff in SET to help facilitate this.

There is also currently a review of surgical work performed in RBHSC and any work that can be redirected to District General Hospitals will be transferred. This may free up capacity in RBHSC for Paediatric Surgeons to perform more gastrostomy surgery.

The Trust are also examining the potential of partnership working with Private Sector. This would mean using RBHSC capacity over the weekend to deliver Waiting List Initiatives in the Children’s Hospital. This will be dependent on theatre and bed resource availability.

(ii) All of these discussions are at initial stages. In the meantime, paediatricians and paediatric surgeons along with other clinical teams at the RBHSC will continue to support these children and their families. Whilst children are on the waiting list they will be regularly assessed by paediatricians and paediatric surgeons to assess their clinical status and if there are signs of deterioration they will be reprioritised to mitigate the potential of adverse outcomes.

My Officials will continue to meet with BHSCT to discuss these potential solutions to examine their progress and success.