AQW 49237/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Health
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the number of people on the waiting list for a PET scan in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last two years, broken down by month.
Asked by David Honeyford MLA on 22 June 2026
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 22 June 2026
- Answer due by
- 7 July 2026
- Answered
- 15 July 202623 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust provides the regional PET CT imaging service for Northern Ireland. As such, it maintains a single waiting list for all referrals to this service, regardless of the referring Health and Social Care Trust.
The waiting list is not categorised by referral source, and it is therefore not possible to identify or extract a subset of patients specifically referred from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.
However, overall waiting list figures for patients awaiting a PET scan across Northern Ireland are available for the period April 2025 to June 2026 and are presented below on a monthly basis. Data for the period June 2024 to March 2025 were not routinely captured in a reportable format due to system changes, including the implementation of Encompass. There are also isolated gaps within this period, including March 2026, where data is unavailable as it was not routinely extracted at that time.
| Month | Patients Awaiting PET Scan |
| April 2025 | 607 |
| May 2025 | 616 |
| June 2025 | 640 |
| July 2025 | 668 |
| August 2025 | 674 |
| September 2025 | 680 |
| October 2025 | 675 |
| November 2025 | 671 |
| December 2025 | 629 |
| January 2026 | 669 |
| February 2026 | 649 |
| March 2026 | Not available |
| April 2026 | 617 |
| May 2026 | 601 |
| June 2026 | 566 |