The South Belfast MLA stated: “Waiting lists for skin cancer are shamefully high and, as successive Health Ministers have failed to deliver the necessary reforms our Health Service needs, sadly things are likely only to get worse."
 
“We know what needs to be done: we need Rapid Diagnosis Centres, the Elected Care Framework and broader public information aimed at prevention and early intervention. Yet without political leadership and funding targeted in the right places, these plans are stalling.
 
“The nine-month waiting list figures are a stark reminder that patients are paying the price for a lack of meaningful action. The Minister will have no opposition whatsoever if he recognises that the rising needs of the population in the area of skin cancer, like many others, requires decisive and transformative action.
 
"Unfortunately, the Reset Plan published in July demonstrated nothing of the kind, displaying only confusion about the fundamental causes of long waiting lists and the changes required across Health and Social Care to fix them.
 
"Inaction comes at a cost, to patients and to the overall healthcare system. Northern Ireland deserves a health service that works, and that means transforming the system in line with the principles agreed in Bengoa, not just talking about it."